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 BS 491 .N53 41 
 
 
 Salmond, S. D. F. 
 
 
 St. Mark 
 
 
The following is the arrangement of the volumes, 
 comprising the New Testament. 
 
 i. MATTHEW, by Prof. W. F. Slater, M.A. 
 
 2. MARK, by Principal Salmond, D.D. 
 
 3. LUKE, by Prof. W. F. Adeney, M.A., D.D. 
 
 4. JOHN, by the Rev. J. A. M c Clymont, D.D. 
 
 5. ACTS, by Prof. J. Vernon Bartlet, M.A. 
 
 6. ROMANS, by the Rev. A. E. Garvie, M.A., B.D. 
 
 7. I and II CORINTHIANS, by Prof. J. Massie, M.A., D.D. 
 
 8. PHILIPPIANS, EPHESIANS, COLOSSIANS, PHI- 
 
 LEMON, by the Rev. G. Currie Martin, M.A., B.D. 
 
 9. I and II THESSALONIANS, GALATIANS, by Prof. 
 
 W. F. Adeney, M.A., D.D. 
 
 10. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, by the Rev. R. F. 
 
 Horton, M.A., D.D. 
 
 11. HEBREWS, by Prof. A. S. Peake, M.A. 
 
 12. THE GENERAL EPISTLES, by Prof.W. H. Bennett, 
 
 Litt.D.,D.D. 
 
 13. REVELATION, by the Rev. C. Anderson Scott, 
 
 M.A. 
 
THE NEW-CENTURY BIBLE 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
General Editor: Prof. W. F. Adeney, D.D. 
 
 &U (Tttarft 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 AUTHORIZED VERSION 
 
 REVISED VERSION WITH NOTES 
 
 INDEX AND MAP 
 
 EDITED by 
 V 
 
 S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D., F.E.I.S. 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF THE UNITED FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, ABERDEEN 
 
 NEW YORK: HENRY FROWDE 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMERICAN BRANCH 
 
 EDINBURGH: T. C. & E. C. JACK 
 
The Revised Version is printed by permission of the 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Editor's Introduction ....... i 
 
 Text of the Authorized Version . . 50 
 
 Text of the Revised Version with Annotations . 105 
 
 Index 373 
 
 MAP 
 
 Orographical Map of Galilee . . . Facing Title 
 
THE GOSPEL OF ST. MARK 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
THE GOSPEL OF ST. MARK 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 1 A succession of pictures in which a painter represents / 
 a complete history.' This description of the first three 
 Gospels very fairly expresses what they are, and how they 
 differ from the Fourth Gospel with its greater unity and 
 more finished plan. They tell their story by pictures, 
 and they are themselves a series of portraits exhibiting ! 
 their great subject in so many different aspects. In this 
 series the one that occupies the second place in the 
 canonical order to which we are accustomed was, in 
 all probability, the first in the actual order of production. | 
 That Mark's Gospel is the ground-sketch of the evangel- ' 
 ical narratives is the opinion now generally entertained 
 by scholars, and this means that it is looked at now from 
 a new point of view. The change of sentiment which has 
 taken place on the subject of the Second Gospel is indeed 
 one of the most notable facts in the history of New 
 Testament studies in our own day. In ancient times 
 little was made of this Gospel in comparison with the 
 others. Its genius was not sufficiently understood. Its 
 value was not adequately recognized. Even the great 
 Augustine could speak of Mark as only the 'follower 
 and abbreviator of Matthew,' and while many pious and 
 learned minds occupied themselves with the preparation 
 of careful expositions of the other three, few seem to have 
 done a similar service to this shortest of the Gospels. It 
 was never held in anything else than honour indeed, but 
 until recent times it was dealt with as if of subordinate ) 
 importance. 
 
 E 2 
 
4 ST. MARK 
 
 Now, however, it is better appreciated. It is seen to 
 have a very distinct character, and to stand in a remark- 
 able relation to the other Gospels : its simplicity, the plain 
 objective view which it gives of events, the vivid way in 
 which it tells its story, the things in it which bespeak for 
 it a very early date, make it a narrative, it is perceived, 
 of singular interest and very special worth. Much depends 
 upon the estimate we form of it and the way in which we 
 use it. Everything relating to it — its age and its author- 
 ship, its sources and its plan, the place where it was 
 written, the readers for whom it was intended, its peculiar 
 qualities, the points of contact which it has with the other 
 Gospels, the particulars in which it differs from them — 
 has a claim upon our attention. Unless we begin with 
 this Gospel according to Mark and study well its goodly 
 words, we shall not be in the right position for looking 
 into the face of him who is the central figure in the 
 holy quaternion of the Gospels. 
 
 i. Its Place in the Ancient Church. 
 
 We have a chain of witnesses connecting this Gospel 
 with the earliest times, and speaking to the position which 
 it had in the ancient Church. There is historical testi- 
 mony sufficient to entitle us to say that it was in circula- 
 tion by the middle of the second century, and that by the 
 last quarter of that century it had an established place. 
 It is found in the oldest of our Greek manuscripts, and 
 the state of the readings indicates that the text must 
 have been in existence for a length of time before it was 
 transcribed in these manuscripts. It appears in the most 
 ancient versions of the New Testament — Old Latin, Syriac, 
 and Egyptian, and in the early lists of canonical books 
 which have come down to us from both sides of the 
 Church, Eastern and Western. There is little evidence 
 of its existence, it is true, in the writings of the Apostolic 
 Fathers. For the most part these are silent on the subject 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 or are of uncertain import. All that can be said of them, 
 then, is that it is possible Mark's Gospel may be referred 
 to in some free quotations in Clement of Rome, the Epistle 
 of 'Barnabas, and Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians ; and 
 that it is probably recognized in the Shepherd of Her mas 
 (perhaps about 130 a. d.) and the writings of Justin 
 Martyr (140-160 A. D.). In Hennas, e.g. we find words 
 which recall the sentence peculiar to Mark, 'guilty of 
 an eternal sin ' (iii. 29). Justin, again, speaks of James 
 and John as ' Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder,' 
 and of Christ as 'the carpenter,' as only Mark does 
 (iii. 17, vi. 3). 
 
 When we come to Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, however, 
 we have a witness not only comparatively early (1 15-190 
 A. D.), but copious and unambiguous. He has much to 
 say both of the writer and of the book. He gives a 
 number of passages in the exact terms of the Gospel, and 
 quotes the opening verse as Mark's. We have similar 
 testimonies, more or less definite, in Athenagoras, the 
 Muratorian Canon, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Clement of 
 Alexandria, Eusebius the Church Historian, &c, extend- 
 ing from the latter part of the second century to the early 
 part of the fourth. From various sources we gather also 
 that the Second Gospel was known to the Gnostic and 
 other early heretical schools. It is further to be noticed 
 that this Gospel has always a place in the list of the four 
 Gospels when such are mentioned. The description of 
 the Gospel as 'the fourfold Gospel' takes us back to 
 Irenasus, and in all probability to a still earlier period ; 
 while the idea of harmonizing the various narratives, 
 and the formation of extended harmonies of the Gospels, 
 come into clear view at least by the time of Tatian the 
 Assyrian (a contemporary of Justin), and have probably 
 to be recognized as of older date still. In all these 
 connexions Mark's Gospel makes one of the four. Nor is 
 there any reason to suppose that when it is referred to 
 or used any other writing is intended than the one that 
 
6 ST. MARK 
 
 has come down to us. Some indeed have imagined that 
 our canonical Mark is not the original Mark, but a second 
 form constructed on the basis of a still more primitive 
 record. But there is no mention of any such archetype or 
 primary edition in ancient literature, nor do the facts pre- 
 sented by the Gospel, as we have it, require us to regard 
 it as a secondary version of a simpler narrative. 
 
 2. The Question of Authorship. 
 
 This Gospel is anonymous. It says nothing of its 
 origin. It gives little or no indication, direct or indirect, 
 of the hand that composed it. In determining its author- 
 ship we have to depend on tradition, and that connects 
 it with two names — Mark and Peter. 
 
 Not a few of the testimonies which speak of the 
 circulation of this writing also speak of its author as 
 Mark. Who then is this Mark? The disciple, it is 
 replied, who appears under that name in the New Testa- 
 ment as well as in early Christian literature. The person 
 in view, however, is not called uniformly by that name in 
 the New Testament, neither are the statements regarding 
 him outside that limit all of one piece. In the New 
 Testament itself, too, he appears in relation both to Peter 
 and to Paul, as is the case also with the later writings. 
 And there is the further peculiarity that in the New Testa- 
 ment his connexion is mostly with Paul, and his relation to 
 Peter is subsidiary ; while in tradition he is associated 
 chiefly with Peter, and his relation to Paul passes into the 
 background. Hence some have thought that we have 
 to reckon with three different Marks, while others have 
 contended for the existence of at least two— one who was 
 the special companion of Paul, and another who was the 
 particular associate of Peter. But it is the general view 
 that the various references, however different in terms, 
 are to one and the same person. The conditions of the 
 case, especially when it is seen that in Barnabas we have 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 the link of connexion between the two apostles in the 
 story of Mark, do not require us to assume the existence 
 of more than one of that name. 
 
 On this supposition we know something, though not 
 much, of the reputed author of this Gospel. He is the 
 person who is sometimes called simply Mark or Marcus 
 (Acts xv. 39; Col. iv. 10; 2 Tim. iv. 11; Philem. 24; 
 1 Pet. v. 13), sometimes John (Acts xiii. 5, 13), sometimes 
 * John whose surname was Mark ' (Acts xii. 25) or 'John, 
 who was called Mark' (Acts xv. 37). In the Gospel itselt 
 there is, as we have said, no explicit reference to him, 
 some indeed have imagined him to be the ' man bearing 
 a pitcher of water ' who is mentioned in connexion with 
 the preparation for the passover (ch. xiv. 13), and others 
 have identified him with the young man who followed 
 Jesus on the night of the betrayal ' having a linen cloth 
 cast about him, over his naked body'* (ch. xiv. 51, 52). 
 There is some plausibility in the latter supposition, for 
 the episode is chronicled only in this Gospel, and if it 
 concerns only some person unknown it is not easy to see 
 why it should have been brought in. But if the writer 
 of the Gospel is himself the young man in view, we can 
 understand why the incident should have got a place in 
 the narrative. For he must have remembered it with 
 a vivid personal interest which would make it natural for 
 him to record it. 
 
 Be it as it may, however, with these uncertain specula- 
 tions regarding certain words of the Gospel, we get some 
 reliable information from the Book of Acts and the Epistles. 
 In Acts Mark comes before us first in connexion with the 
 story of Peter's deliverance (ch. xii. 12). We see that he 
 was the son of a certain Mary, a believer, a lady of some 
 means and station, as we judge, who had a house in 
 Jerusalem to which Christians gathered for prayer and 
 to which the Apostle at once turned. He is next men- 
 tioned as having been taken by Barnabas and Saul on 
 their return to Antioch, after their visit to Jerusalem 
 
8 ST. MARK 
 
 with the relief sent by the disciples to the distressed 
 brethren in Judaea (ch. xii. 25). Then we see him accom- 
 panying Barnabas and Paul as ' their attendant ' on their 
 first missionary journey, but breaking off from them at 
 Perga in Pamphylia and returning to Jerusalem, while 
 they went on to the Pisidian Antioch (ch. xiii. 3, 13, 14). 
 We are not told why he took this step. Hence some 
 have regarded his departure at this point as a culpable 
 defection due to timidity or lukewarmness, while others 
 have found an excuse for it in concern for his mother, or 
 in a change in the programme of the journey originally 
 contemplated and agreed to by him. In any case it so 
 offended Paul, or shook his confidence in his former 
 ' attendant, 5 that, though Barnabas wished to take Mark 
 with them again when it was proposed to revisit the 
 churches, he refused to have him, and a 'sharp contention' 
 arose which separated the friends. Barnabas took Mark 
 with him and sailed to Cyprus, while Paul chose Silas 
 as his companion and went through Syria and Cilicia 
 (ch. xv. 36-41). This estrangement, however, was after- 
 wards healed, and Mark reappears in a different aspect 
 in the story of Paul's later career. He is with Paul at 
 the time of his first Roman imprisonment (Col. iv. 10; 
 Philem. 24) ; and in his second imprisonment the Apostle, 
 left alone but for Luke, asks Timothy to bring Mark with 
 him as one 'useful to him for ministering' (2 Tim. iv. 11). 
 From other references to him in the New Testament we 
 gather that he was a Jew by birth, cousin (not ' sister's 
 son') of Barnabas (Col. iv. 10); and that he stood in 
 a peculiarly close relation to Peter, the latter speaking 
 of him as his 'son' in the sense of spiritual convert, it 
 may be, or at least in that of dear friend (1 Pet. v. 13). 
 
 This brief account of the author of the Second Gospel 
 receives a great enlargement outside the New Testament. 
 There he is described as an evangelist, as Peter's com- 
 panion in Rome, as sent by Peter on a mission into 
 Egypt, as the founder of the Alexandrian Church and 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 its first bishop ; and in the later forms of the tradition 
 he is represented as suffering cruel martyrdom at Alexan- 
 dria. The place where he was supposed to be buried 
 became a favourite shrine, visited by multitudes of pilgrims 
 for centuries. Early in the ninth century his reputed 
 remains were removed by some merchants to Venice. 
 There the great cathedral church was built in his honour. 
 He became the patron saint of Venice, and the emblem 
 of the lion, which had been mistakenly assigned to him 
 by Christian art, was taken as the armorial ensign of 
 the Venetian Senate. 
 
 3. Relation of the writer to Peter. 
 
 Ancient tradition, however, which speaks of Mark as 
 author, also associates him with Peter in the composition 
 of the Gospel. The tradition is very old, and in the main 
 points remarkably consistent. It goes back to Papias, and 
 is continued by Justin Martyr, Irenasus, Clement of Alexan- 
 dria, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, 
 Jerome, &c. It appears in different forms, at first simple, 
 and then more definite and more complex. In Papias the 
 Presbyter John is reported as speaking of Mark as Peter's 
 hermeneut — a term of uncertain meaning, taken by some 
 in the sense of interftrete}' or dragoman, by others rather 
 in the sense of amanueiisis. In the former case Mark's 
 function would be that of rendering the Apostle's verna- 
 cular Aramaic into Greek ; in the latter, that of committing 
 to writing, with more or less freedom, oral communications 
 made by Peter. On the same authority we are told that 
 he wrote down the things that he remembered, both those 
 said and those done by Christ, ' accurately, not however 
 in order ' ; that he was not himself a hearer of the Lord, 
 but owed his matter to Peter's instructions, which were 
 not intended to give a connected account of the Lord's 
 words ; and that he was careful ' neither to omit anything 
 he had heard nor to set down anything false' (Euseb. 
 
io ST. MARK 
 
 Ch. Hist. iii. 39). Irenaeus also says of Mark that he 
 ' committed to writing the things preached by Peter,' 
 although he seems to represent this as done after the death 
 of Peter and Paul. Clement enlarges this, stating that when 
 Peter had preached in Rome many urged Mark to write 
 down what had been thus spoken, and that Peter ' neither 
 forbad nor encouraged it. 5 Eusebius himself, who reports 
 these traditions in his History of the Church, goes farther, 
 and speaks of the Apostle as confirming ox authorising the 
 writing at the request of the churches. Finally, Jerome 
 describes Mark as being Peter's interpreter as Titus was 
 Paul's, and refers to the Gospel as composed by Peter 
 narrating and Mark writing. The tradition, therefore, 
 varies, and in course of time becomes more circumstantial 
 and precise. But the general view which it gives of the 
 Gospel is that of a composition written by Mark on the 
 basis of notes of Peter's discourses, and giving a faithful 
 report of the Apostle's recollections of the words and deeds 
 of the Lord. 
 
 The facts presented by the Gospel correspond very 
 fairly with this. It is true that this has been disputed. 
 It has been argued that the writing as we now have it 
 does not answer to Papias's description ; that Mark's 
 work must have been something different from the com- 
 position which now bears his name, something less orderly; 
 and that behind the present Mark we must suppose a more 
 primitive record. But there is little either in ancient 
 testimony or in the book itself to bear out these sup- 
 positions. Our Gospel has not the appearance of being 
 a remodelled literary production, and it is hard to 
 understand how an earlier work really by Mark himself 
 should have vanished so completely, while this supposed 
 secondary form has survived. Nor can it be said that the 
 existing Mark contradicts Papias's description of the 
 writing as 'not in order.' For while our Gospel has 
 a certain arrangement, it does not amount to a record 
 of events in their exact historical succession. There is 
 
INTRODUCTION n 
 
 much in it, on the other hand, that fits in with the view given 
 of it by tradition. The general character of its narrative, 
 so lifelike, so definite and assured in its statements, in the 
 case even of small things, points an eye-witness as directly 
 or indirectly its author. There are many touches in it that 
 indicate first-hand knowledge, and such first-hand know- 
 ledge as Peter would have. It alone tells us that ' Simon 
 and they that were with him followed after ' Jesus when he 
 withdrew to a solitary place at the beginning of his ministry 
 (ch. i. 36) ; that it was Peter who called the Lord's 
 attention to the withered fig-tree (ch. xi. 21) ; that it was 
 he also, with his brother and the sons of Zebedee, who 
 asked him on the Mount of Olives about the destruction of 
 the temple (ch. xiii. 3). Many of the things which it re- 
 cords are things immediately concerning Peter, and such as 
 would be personally known to him. Things in which Peter 
 had a personal interest mark important stages in Christ's 
 ministry, e. g. his call, his confession, the message sent him 
 by the Risen Lord. There are omissions of things specially 
 honourable to Peter, such as the great declaration that the 
 Church was to be built upon him, the Rock (Matt. xvi. 18), 
 which are explained perhaps by his relation to the com- 
 position of the Gospel. Narratives like those of the 
 raising of the daughter of Jairus, the Transfiguration, and 
 the Agony, have details and peculiarities as given by 
 Mark which suggest a more immediate knowledge of the 
 circumstances, and such a knowledge as Peter, an actor 
 in all these scenes, might have had. There are certain 
 resemblances also between the style of this Gospel and 
 that of Peter as seen in his discourses in the Acts and in 
 his Epistles. These things indeed, however interesting 
 in themselves, might come far short of proving the Gospel 
 to have such an origin. But they suit very well the account 
 of it which has been transmitted to us from the second 
 century. 
 
12 ST. MARK 
 
 4. Sources of the Gospel. 
 
 The matter of this Gospel, therefore, is taken mainly 
 from those discourses of Peter, of which early Christian 
 writers say so much, which embodied his recollections of 
 his master's words and deeds, and were spoken by him 
 with a view to the needs of those about him. But though 
 these are the chief sources of the Gospel they do not 
 account for all that is in it. There are some things which 
 in all probability are Mark's own, such as the explanatory 
 sentences about the Jewish washings (ch. vii. 3, 4) ; the 
 statement, also in the form of an explanation, * This he 
 said, making all meats clean' (vii. 19); and the episode 
 of the young man already referred to. There are some 
 paragraphs which seem to come from another source, 
 perhaps a written source. These include the narrative of 
 Herod in ch. vi, and the long discourse about the end in 
 ch. xiii and the beginning of ch. xiv. It is difficult to say 
 how much, if anything, is due to the hand of an editor, 
 and still more difficult to say whether the Logia of 
 Matthew — that collection of the sayings of Jesus which 
 is supposed to be one of the two main foundations of the 
 Gospels as we have them — must be reckoned among the 
 sources. In a few passages, especially in ch. xiii, it is 
 possible that Mark's Gospel is indebted to the Logia. 
 But at most it can only be to a very small extent that 
 Mark is dependent on that collection. His Gospel, more 
 particularly in the parts occupied with the Galilean 
 ministry, has all the appearance of a simple record of 
 such recollections of the words and deeds of Christ as 
 Peter might have had and which he might repeat in his 
 discourses. 
 
 5. Compass and Contents of the Gospel. 
 This Gospel keeps within the limits of apostolic preach- 
 ing given by Peter in his discourse before Cornelius 
 (Acts x. 37-41). It begins with the Baptist's mission and 
 
INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 ends with the Resurrection of Jesus. It has a brief pre- 
 liminary section dealing with John's ministry, and with the 
 preparation of Jesus for his official work by his Baptism 
 and his Temptation (ch. i. 1-13) ; a central section of 
 narrative forming the body of the composition (chs. i. 14 — 
 xv. 47) ; a conclusion reporting the Resurrection (ch. xv. 
 1-8) ; and an additional paragraph recording certain 
 details of the Resurrection, and the circumstances of the 
 Ascension (ch. xvi. 9-20). The central section itself falls 
 into two great blocks, one given to the Galilean ministry, j 
 (chs. i. 14 — ix. 50), the other to the last week in Jerusalem 
 (chs. xi. 1 — xvi. 8). The story of the intermediate events, 
 covering the journeys into Peraea and Judaea, the words 
 of Christ on divorce, reward, and his Coming, and such 
 incidents as the blessing of the children, the rich man's 
 question, the request of James and John, and the case of 
 Bartimaeus, is more briefly told. 
 
 The narrative, too, follows a particular order. It is 
 arranged in certain more or less clearly defined sections. 
 It gives us, first, the Galilean ministry in the eastern parts 
 (chs. i. 14 — vii. 23) and in the northern (chs. vii. 24 — ix. 50), 
 then the Peraean ministry (x. 1-3 1 ), and finally the journey 
 to Jerusalem and the last events (chs, x. 32— xv. 47). The 
 story of the ministry in Eastern Galilee falls itself, again, 
 into three parts. Of these, the first is occupied with the 
 announcement of the kingdom, the call of the first disciples, 
 and the beginnings of opposition (chs. i. 14 — iii. 12) ; the 
 second, with the call of the apostles, and the events follow- 
 ing that decisive act on to the rejection at Nazareth (chs. 
 iii. 13 — vi. 6) ; and the third, with the mission of the Twelve, 
 and the subsequent events on to the retirement to the 
 borders of Tyre and Sidon (chs. vi. 7 — vii. 24). The story 
 of the ministry in Northern Galilee in like manner is told 
 in two sections — the one embracing all that happened on 
 to Christ's withdrawal in the direction of Caesarea Philippi 
 (chs. vii. 24 — viii. 27), and the other all that occurred from 
 Peter's confession on to the words on self-denial (chs. viii. 
 
i 4 ST. MARK 
 
 27 — ix. 50). The events of Passion Week are related with 
 particular fullness and continuity, almost in the style of a 
 diary filled in day by day and hour by hour. 
 
 6. Plan of the Gospel. 
 We can discover, therefore, in Mark's Gospel a certain 
 plan, but a simple one. It does not attempt much literary 
 form, neither does it give events by any means in their 
 strict chronological succession. Nor, again, does it follow 
 to any large extent the method of grouping things which 
 we see more clearly in Matthew. There are some instances 
 of this, especially in the second and third chapters, but 
 not many. There is, however, a certain orderly setting 
 of the things that are recorded. They are arranged so as 
 to shew us how in his teaching our Lord followed a certain 
 method ; how he began with the call to repentance, the 
 announcement of the kingdom, and the enforcement of 
 the great moral requirements, all in a simple way and as 
 occasion offered, and proceeded in due time to the deeper 
 things of his kingdom as a spiritual order, and the mys- 
 teries of his own Person, his Death and his Resurrection ; 
 how he delivered his message first in direct and obvious 
 terms, and afterwards in the form of parabolic discourse ; 
 how he took for the scene of his first preaching the towns 
 in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee and the synagogues 
 in those parts, and then went further afield, addressing 
 his word to audiences of a different kind. What it gives 
 is not a complete biography, far less a history, but rather 
 an outline of a history for a particular purpose. And that 
 is not a theoretical or ecclesiastical purpose but the plain, 
 practical purpose of placing on record for edification the 
 main events in the public life of Jesus, with a selection of 
 his words and especially of his deeds. It takes his official 
 ministry for its primary subject. It passes by, therefore, 
 the preliminary history on to the period of most immediate 
 preparation for that ministry. It omits the longer dis- 
 courses, with the exception of certain parables and the 
 
INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 great declaration on the End. It leaves even the Sermon 
 on the Mount without report. It gives few parables — 
 only four of the parables proper, together with three of the 
 minor or germ parables. It deals with the acts of Jesus 
 rather than his words. It has many more miracles than 
 parables — no less than eighteen. Most of these are 
 miracles of healing, and most belong to the period before 
 the Transfiguration. 
 
 7. Relation of Mark to Matthew and 
 Luke in respect of matter. 
 
 The three Synoptical Gospels have much in common as 
 regards both the things recorded and the order in which 
 they are given. But each has also its own peculiarities. 
 Mark omits much that is found in Matthew and Luke, 
 or in one or other of them : such sections of the former, 
 e. g. as chs. i, ii, v. 7, and of the latter, such paragraphs as 
 chs. i, ii, ix. 51 — xviii. 14. On the other hand, Mark has 
 some passages which the others have not. He has one 
 parable peculiar to himself, that of the Fruit-bearing 
 Earth (ch. iv. 26-29), and two miracles, those of the deaf 
 mute (ch. vii. 31-37) and the blind man of Bethsaida 
 (ch. viii. 22-26). He gives also certain things which are 
 not reported by the others — the questions regarding the 
 dullness of the disciplesand their disputings (ch.viii. 17, 18, 
 ix. 33), the incident of the young man (ch. xiv. 51, 52), 
 the smiting of Jesus by the servants (ch. xiv. 65), Pilate's 
 wonder, &c. (ch. xv. 44). Further, Mark has a certain 
 proportion of matter which appears in Matthew but not 
 in Luke, or in Luke but not in Matthew ; and in narratives 
 which are common to the three, or to Mark and one of the 
 others, he adds in not a few cases considerably to our 
 knowledge by his richer detail. This will appear if one 
 compares his accounts of the paralytic, the demoniac boy, 
 the purgation of the Temple, &c. with those of the others. 
 In ihe matter of arrangement, too, he has a way of his 
 
1 6 ST. MARK 
 
 own. In the case of the Galilean ministry, e. g. he differs 
 considerably from Matthew's order on to the story of Herod 
 (ch. vi. 13), after which there is more agreement. In the 
 later chapters (x-xvi) Mark's order is very much the same 
 as that of the others. The amount of divergence from 
 Luke all through is less than from Matthew ; but the 
 blasphemy of the scribes, the parable of the Mustard 
 Seed, and some other things are not given in the same 
 connexion by Mark as by Luke. 
 
 8. Relation of Mark to Matthew and Luke 
 in respect of time. 
 
 There are considerable differences, therefore, between 
 Mark and the other Synoptical Gospels ; but there is 
 also considerable agreement. Nor is this agreement 
 confined to the general selection and arrangement of 
 matter : it extends to the minuter circumstances of 
 word and phrase. There is often a remarkable verbal 
 correspondence between Mark and the other Synoptists. 
 In order to understand the nature and measure of these 
 coincidences, one should carefully compare such passages 
 in Mark as ch. iv. 3-9, viii. 27 — ix. 9 with their equiva- 
 lents in Matt. xiii. 3-9, xvi. 13-28, xvii. 1-10 ; or such 
 passages as Mark i. 40-44 with Luke v. 12-16; Mark 
 ii. 12-22 with Luke v. 27-39. The question therefore 
 arises — How are these peculiarities to be explained? Is 
 Mark dependent on Matthew and Luke, or is the opposite 
 the case ? Augustine, as we have seen, took Mark to be 
 later than Matthew and dependent on it. Clement of 
 Alexandria gave it as a fact, ' derived from the oldest 
 presbyters,' that the Gospels which contain the genealo- 
 gies of our Lord were the first written (Eusebius, Church 
 History, vi. 14), and many in modern times have 
 accepted in one form or other this ancient, traditional 
 view of Mark as the latest of the three, or at least not 
 the earliest, and as dependent on one of them or on both. 
 
INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 Elaborate schemes have also been constructed with the 
 object of shewing how Mark's Gospel must have been 
 put together by abridgement and combination of Matthew 
 and Luke, or was composed with one of these, if not 
 both, before its writer's eye. In ancient times this was 
 argued for the most part on general considerations — on 
 the ground of the improbability, e.g. that a Gospel 
 containing comparatively so little of our Lord's discourses 
 should have been the earliest, or that a Roman Gospel 
 should have preceded a Palestinian. In modern times 
 the argument has been based on a minute analysis of the 
 contents. 
 
 But in neither case has the position been made good. 
 The explanations which Mark gives from time to time 
 of matters of history, geography, or custom are to be 
 accounted for in a better way than by taking them for 
 evidences of the secondary character of the writing. 
 There are some things which are referred to as in- 
 dicating that the author did not write independently. 
 But they are not sufficient for the purpose, and many 
 of them are used in an arbitrary way. It is true, for 
 example, that in describing the restored demoniac Mark 
 speaks of him as now ' clothed' (ch. v. 15), while Luke 
 says of him that in his possessed condition 'he wore 
 no clothes' (ch. viii. 27). But it surely does not follow 
 that Mark must have had Luke's picture of the man 
 before him when he wrote his account of him. On the 
 other hand, the peculiarly lifelike character of Mark's 
 narrative, the precision of his statements, the circum- 
 stantiality of his references to matters of geography, 
 history, custom and the like, are not consistent with the 
 way in which a secondary writer or a copyist goes to work. 
 
 In other directions, too, Mark must have chosen a very 
 strange method of making up his Gospel if he was indeed 
 a compiler or epitomist. For one thing we should have 
 expected him in that case to have studied brevity. But 
 it is not so. In many cases he is fuller than the others 
 
iS ST. MARK 
 
 in his descriptions. Often in reporting incidents which 
 are also given by Matthew or by Luke he enlarges the 
 report by particulars of his own ; and there are instances 
 in which, on the supposition in question, he must be under- 
 stood to have selected the fuller account of Luke in pre- 
 ference to the shorter account of Matthew. Besides, it is 
 not easy to see why, when there were two Gospels, both of 
 them comparatively short, already in existence, another 
 Evangelist should have constructed another Gospel, still 
 shorter, but following mostly the same plan and not 
 giving any very large proportion of new matter. For 
 some fifty verses will comprise the whole amount of 
 matter that is peculiar to Mark. Hence opinion has 
 now gone largely against the theory that this Gospel is 
 the product of any process of curtailment and compila- 
 tion. It is held by most that this is the earliest of the 
 three Synoptical Gospels, and that it is one of the chief 
 sources of the others. 
 
 9. Language and Style. 
 
 The Second Gospel contains some Latin words in 
 Greek form. One or two manuscripts speak of it as 
 written in the Roman tongue. There are also certain 
 subscriptions and marginal notes in some of the ancient 
 versions which refer to it in similar terms. Hence it has 
 been thought by some that, though we have it now in 
 Greek, it was written originally in Latin. This opinion 
 used to prevail in particular among Roman Catholic 
 theologians, and some men of great eminence committed 
 themselves to it. It was even imagined that a part of 
 the original copy in Latin was deposited in the Library 
 of St. Mark's in Venice. But this opinion is now given 
 up, and it has little indeed to support it. The manu- 
 scripts supposed to bear it out are of very late date. 
 The late references in certain copies of the versions are 
 of no importance. The supposed Venetian treasure 
 
INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 proved to be only a portion of the Vulgate Version. If 
 the Gospel, too, was meant specially for Roman readers, 
 colloquial Greek would still have been the most natural 
 language in which to write. Paul's Kpistle to the Romans 
 is written not in Latin, but in Greek. 
 
 More recently it has been taken to have been written 
 originally in Aramaic, the vernacular of the Holy Land 
 in the times of our Lord and his apostles. This opinion 
 is based mostly on arguments drawn from the condition 
 of the text and certain peculiarities in the contents. But 
 these are precarious reasonings. Some of them may 
 suggest that the writer availed himself to some extent 
 of Aramaic sources. They do not prove that he wrote 
 in Aramaic. The theory also fails to do justice to those 
 very distinct qualities of the Gospel, as we now have it, 
 which make it difficult to regard it as a translation or a 
 secondary composition. Hence it is the almost universal 
 opinion now that Mark's Gospel was written originally 
 in the language in which it has come down to us, namely, 
 Greek. With this the references to the Gospel in the 
 early Christian writers entirely agree. The testimony 
 of antiquity has nothing to say of an Aramaic or of 
 a Latin original. 
 
 With this, too, the style best agrees. It is not the 
 style of a translator. It is simple and direct, and at the 
 same time free, unconstrained, forcible, and full of life. 
 The sentences have no elaborated literary form, but are 
 connected for the most part by the simplest terms, and, 
 now, and the like. They are usually terse and pointed. 
 Yet, when it is necessary for the purposes of clear, 
 vigorous, vivid narration, Mark can use a more copious 
 style. We see this in such instances of the adding of 
 phrase to phrase as these — ' He went out, and began to 
 publish it much, and to spread abroad the matter' (ch. 
 i. 45) ; ' I neither know, nor understand what thou 
 sayest' (ch. xiv. 68). 
 
 c 2 
 
2o ST. MARK 
 
 10. Place of Composition ok Publication. 
 
 The Gospel itself neither states nor indicates where it 
 was written or where it was first given to the Church. 
 Opinion, therefore, has varied on this question, and some 
 very uncertain conjectures have been put forth. It has 
 been supposed by an English scholar that the Second 
 Gospel was written at Caesarea, 'with a reference,' as he 
 understands it, ' not only to Jewish believers, but to Gentile 
 Roman converts, who would have multiplied there in 
 seven or eight years from the conversion of Cornelius 5 
 (Birks, Horce Evangelicce, p. 238). A German scholar 
 of older date, Professor G. C. Storr, of Tubingen, argued 
 on behalf of Antioch as the place of publication. He 
 pointed to the statement in Acts (ch. xi. 19, 20) that 
 those who ' were scattered abroad upon the tribulation 
 that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, 
 and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none 
 save only to Jews,' with the explanation that some of 
 them, ' men of Cyprus and Cyrene,' ' when they were 
 come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching 
 the Lord Jesus.' He connected this with what is said of 
 Simon a Cyrenian, ' the father of Alexander and Rums,' 
 in the Gospel itself (ch. xv. 21), and thought it probable 
 that Alexander and Rufus were among the men who 
 went to Antioch, and that this was the reason why Mark 
 introduced them into the paragraph about their father. 
 This is all very ingenious, but also far from convincing. 
 
 < Ancient testimony, so far as it bears on the question, 
 is almost wholly on the side of Rome. Jerome, e. g., at 
 the close of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth 
 century, speaks of Mark, ' the disciple and interpreter of 
 Peter,' as having written ' a brief Gospel at the request 
 V of the brethren in Rome, in accordance with what he had 
 heard related by Peter. 5 Epiphanius, a little earlier, says 
 that ' immediately after Matthew, Mark, having become an 
 attendant of the holy Peter in Rome, had committed to him 
 
INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 the task of setting forth the Gospel,' and that ' having 
 completed his work, he was sent by the holy Peter into the 
 country of the Egyptians.' Eusebius, the Church historian, 
 who flourished about the end of the third century and 
 the beginning of the fourth, makes this statement among 
 others about Mark's Gospel — { When Peter had proclaimed 
 the word publicly at Rome and declared the Gospel 
 under the influence of the Spirit, as there was a great 
 number present, they requested Mark, who had followed 
 him from long time, and remembered well what he had 
 said, to reduce these things to writing, and after composing 
 the Gospel he gave it to those who requested it of him.' 
 Origen, in the early part of the third century, refers to 
 Mark as having composed his Gospel { under the guidance 
 of Peter, 5 and quotes in that connexion the words in 
 1 Pet. v. 13 rendered by our Revisers, * She that is in 
 Babylon, elect together with yote, saluteth you, and so 
 doth Mark my son.' If Babylon there stands for Rome, 
 the quotation supplies another indication of ancient opinion 
 on the question of place. Earlier still, Clement of Alex- 
 andria explains the occasion for writing the Gospel thus — 
 'That after Peter had publicly preached the word in 
 Rome, and declared the Gospel by the Spirit, many who 
 were present entreated Mark, as one who had for long 
 attended the Apostle, and who knew by heart what he 
 had said, to reduce to writing what had been spoken to 
 them ; and that Mark, having composed the Gospel, made 
 it over to those who asked him.' And Irenaeus of Lyons, 
 in the latter half of the second century, says that ' Peter 
 and Paul went westward, and preached and founded the 
 Church in Rome,' and adds that 'after the departure 
 of these, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, 
 even he, delivered to us in writing the things which 
 were preached by Peter.' 
 
 These testimonies are not quite direct and definite, 
 neither are they entirely consistent at all points. But 
 they speak for Rome as the place of composition or of 
 
22 ST. MARK 
 
 publication, and this is accepted by most scholars as 
 the most probable conclusion. Confirmation of this has 
 been sought in other directions. In the colophons of 
 some of our later manuscripts of the text it is expressly 
 stated that this Gospel was written in Rome. ' Here 
 ends the Holy Gospel, the announcement of Mark,' it 
 is said, e. g. in the colophon of the Peshito Syriac Version, 
 'which he spoke and preached at Rome in the Roman 
 language.' But notes of this kind on the manuscripts 
 are not of much weight. The passage in Paul's Epistle 
 to the Romans — 'Salute Rufus the chosen in the Lord, 
 and his mother and mine' (ch. xvi. 13) is also appealed 
 to. This Rufus, residing then, as it would appear, in 
 Rome, is supposed to be the brother of the Alexander 
 and the son of the Simon introduced in the passage of the 
 Gospel already referred to (ch. xv. 21), and further to have 
 been a person so well known in Rome that Mark might 
 naturally make some mention of him and of his brother 
 with him when writing in the metropolis. But this is all 
 too uncertain an argument, however ingenious it may be. 
 There is, however, another place for which something 
 is thought to be said in ancient tradition. That is Alex- 
 andria. Chrysostom observes that • Mark is said to have 
 composed his Gospel in Egypt at the solicitation of his 
 disciples there,' and, as we have seen, tradition connects 
 Mark the Evangelist and his ministry in particular with 
 the Egyptian city Alexandria. But the statement made 
 by Chrysostom is entirely without support elsewhere. 
 Some, nevertheless, have suggested that the Gospel may 
 have been published both in Rome and in Alexandria. 
 And there are one or two passages in the writings of 
 the Fathers, Eusebius and Jerome in particular, which 
 have been taken to favour this idea. But these passages 
 when looked into are seen to have no distinct statement 
 to the effect that this Gospel was either composed in 
 Alexandria or given to the Church of that city. So far, 
 therefore, as the facts at our disposal go, the probabilities 
 
INTRODUCTION 23 
 
 remain all on the side of Rome. The New Testament 
 itself, too, shews that Mark was in Rome when Paul was 
 a prisoner there (Col. iv. 10 ; Philem. 24). It also indicates 
 that he was in Rome with Peter himself, if the Babylon 
 in 1 Pet. v. 13 can be taken in the figurative sense it has 
 in the Apocalypse. 
 
 11. Destination of the Gospel. 
 
 The Gospel is not addressed to any definite locality or 
 any particular circle of readers, nor does it state for whom 
 it was specially intended. Tradition, however, gives some 
 indication of its destination. The terms in which Irenaeus, 
 Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, and others refer to it, point 
 at least to Gentile readers as those more immediately 
 in view. And this is what might be inferred from what 
 is found in the Gospel itself. It is in the habit, for example, 
 of interpreting the Aramaic terms which it occasionally 
 introduces. So it is with the words Boa?ierges, Talitha 
 Cumiy Corban, Ephphatha, Abba (iii. 17, v. 41, vii. II, vii. 
 34, xiv. 30), with the cry from the Cross, Eloi, Eloz, lama 
 sabachthani? (xv. 34), and with the name BartimcEus 
 (x. 46). Such reproductions of the vernacular might not 
 be understood by Gentiles. So, too, it is accustomed to 
 explain Jewish customs, seasons, localities, and the like. 
 This is the case with what it says of the l defiled ' hands, 
 the peculiar Jewish washings, the first day of unleavened 
 bread, the two mites, the position of the Mount of Olives, 
 the ' Preparation ' or ' the day before the Sabbath,' &c. 
 (vii. 32, vii. 3, 4, xii. 42, xiii. 3, xv. 42). To explain such 
 things to Jewish readers would have been superfluous. 
 
 The way in which the Old Testament is treated has 
 also its significance. It has a much smaller place in 
 Mark than it has in the other Evangelists. In Matthew 
 the references to it are so numerous that the whole Gospel 
 has a Hebraic aspect. In Mark there are in all some 
 twenty-three quotations of one kind or other. Most of 
 these follow the text of the Greek Septuagint Version. 
 
24 ST. MARK 
 
 These also belong almost entirely to the reports of our 
 Lord's sayings, or those of others given in the narrative, 
 and not to the Evangelist himself. The quotation in 
 ch. xv. 28 which is given in the A. V. is omitted by the 
 R. V., and there remains, therefore, the solitary case of 
 ch. i. 2, 3 as a quotation made by Mark himself. In 
 like manner the Jewish Law is strange to Mark's Gospel. 
 While it appears some eight times in Matthew, nine times 
 in Luke, and eighteen times in John, it does not occur 
 at all in Mark. This Gospel speaks, indeed, of the 
 ' Commandment ' repeatedly (vii. 8, x. 19, &c), but not 
 of the ' Law.' 
 
 It has been thought that we can be more specific, and 
 conclude that this Gospel was addressed to Roman 
 readers in particular. But there is not enough to bear 
 this out. It is true that some of the early Christian 
 writers, such as Clement of Alexandria and Jerome, 
 connect Rome with the request which they record to 
 have been made to Mark to commit his recollections to 
 writing, and that this might suggest that the destination 
 of the Gospel was Rome. But the historical testimony 
 is scarcely adequate. It is supposed, indeed, to be 
 strengthened by things that are found in the writing 
 itself. But neither are these sufficiently clear and 
 decisive. It has been thought, for example, that the 
 Latinisms which occur in Mark are witnesses in point. 
 It is true that this Gospel adopts certain Latin idioms, 
 and that it uses a number of Latin words — legio?i, 
 centurion, census, and others, of which some are found 
 in it alone. But such Latinisms occur, though in smaller 
 proportion, in the other Gospels also, and in Jewish 
 writings of both older and later date. Other hints of 
 a Roman circle of readers have been discovered in the 
 way in which Pilate is introduced, which is supposed 
 to mean that he was known to those addressed ; in the 
 fact that the ' two mites ' are explained by a Roman coin 
 (xii. 42), and in a few incidental occurrences of a similar 
 
INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 kind. But these are precarious indications, and it cannot 
 be said that we have facts enough to connect this Gospel 
 specifically with a Roman destination. 
 
 12. Date of the Gospel. 
 
 The question of the date of composition or of publica- 
 tion is left in an indeterminate position by the Gospel 
 itself, nor does ancient historical testimony speak with any 
 precision on the subject. With considerable probability 
 the date may be placed within a certain term of years, 
 but the facts at our disposal are not sufficient to take 
 us much beyond that. There has been much conjecture, 
 however, and opinion has gone from one extreme to 
 another. Some scholars have contended for a very early- 
 date, even as early as 42 or 43 A.D., or at least some- 
 where between these years and 57 or 58 A.D. ; and in 
 support of this they have pointed to the fact that the 
 colophons of some of our ancient manuscripts speak of 
 the book as published ten or twelve years after our 
 Lord's Ascension. Those who argue for Antioch or for 
 Caesarea as the place of composition or publication are 
 also of opinion that the reasons which point to that 
 conclusion hold in like manner for the very early date. 
 
 Others have sought to carry it far into the second 
 century. This is the case with those, like Baur and his 
 most consistent followers, who do not look upon this 
 Gospel as a plain historical narrative, but think it is 
 more a work of art composed with the special object of 
 harmonizing two antagonistic parties in the Church, a 
 strict Petrine party, and a free Pauline party, the one taking 
 a legalistic, Judaic view of the Gospel, and the other 
 a more liberal and catholic view of the same. Those, 
 too, who suppose that this Gospel as we have it is not 
 the original Mark, but that it has a more primitive 
 version of the Evangelist's narrative behind it, as also 
 those who are of opinion that Mark's Gospel came after 
 
26 ST. MARK 
 
 those of Matthew and Luke, or at least after that of 
 Matthew, naturally argue for a somewhat later date. 
 This conclusion is thought to be favoured by certain 
 general considerations as well as by some particular 
 points in the Gospel itself. It is urged, for example, 
 that it is very unlikely that anything like a finished, 
 formal Gospel history should have been given to the 
 Church before the fall of Jerusalem. It is also argued 
 that Mark's references to the Coming of the Son of Man 
 and the tribulation of the last times (chs. ix. I, xiii. 24) 
 differ somewhat from those in Matthew, and seem to 
 contemplate these events as further in the future, as 
 when Mark, e. g. uses the more general phrase, ' in 
 those days,' where Matthew gives the more definite, 
 ' immediately.' But these are slender foundations on 
 which to build a theory. 
 
 How does the case stand, then, in the matter of 
 ancient historical testimony ? That testimony cannot be 
 said to be either much in amount or very certain in its 
 import. Eusebius in his Chronicle connects Mark's 
 Gospel with the third year of the Emperor Claudius 
 (a. D. 43). Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Epiphanius, 
 and Jerome speak of it as written when Peter was yet 
 alive, and as it would seem, after he had come to Rome. 
 Irenaeus, in the third book of his treatise Against Heresies, 
 puts it somewhat differently. He speaks of Matthew 
 as having gone ' eastward to those of Hebrew descent ' ; 
 while he says, as we have seen, that ' Peter and Paul 
 went westward, and preached, and founded the Church, 
 in Rome,' stating further that 'after the departure of 
 these,' Mark ' delivered to us in writing the things which 
 were preached by Peter.' As the words 'after the 
 departure of these' are usually understood, the com- 
 position of the Gospel, according to Irenasus, did not 
 take place till after the decease of Peter and Paul. 
 There is this amount of difference between Irenaeus on 
 the one hand, and Clement and those mentioned along 
 
INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 with him on the other. It is not sufficient, however, 
 to invalidate the testimony of the former, which otherwise 
 seems to be of importance, nor does it affect the question 
 by more than a few years. The death of Peter took 
 place, in all probability, somewhere within the seventh 
 decade of the Christian era, and both sets of testimony 
 may be said, therefore, to point to that as the period 
 within which the date of the Gospel is to be placed. 
 
 Whether we can be more precise depends on the 
 interpretation we put on a few things on the writing itself. 
 Of these the most important are the declarations made 
 on the things of the end in ch. xiii, especially those in 
 vers. 13, 14, 24, 30, 33. These are understood most 
 naturally to contemplate the end as yet in the future, 
 though it may be the near future. There is, indeed, 
 nothing in this Gospel that can be said to point distinctly 
 to the destruction of Jerusalem as a thing in the past, 
 and it is difficult to imagine that an event of such moment 
 as the overthrow of the Jewish state and its religious 
 centre, if it had recently occurred, could have had no 
 place, or only an obscure and ambiguous place, in a 
 narrative like this. The date suggested by the statement 
 of Irenasus would be 63 A. D. or a little l?„ter, and the 
 date of our Gospel, therefore, may be placed within these 
 limits— b'efore 70 A. D., but probably not much before it. 
 
 13. Object and Aim of the Gospel. 
 
 Both the third Gospel and the fourth declare the object 
 with which they were written (Luke i. 1-5 ; John xx. 31). 
 The second Gospel, on the other hand, proceeds with its 
 narrative without giving any explanation of its design. 
 Advantage has been taken, therefore, of the field thus left 
 open to conjecture, and some elaborate theories have been 
 constructed as to what the writer had in view. It has 
 been supposed, for example, that he wrote with particular 
 reference to the expectation of Christ's Second Coming. 
 
28 ST. MARK 
 
 and was moved especially by consideration of the effect 
 which the delay of that event might have on those who 
 had looked for the speedy fulfilment of the promise. He 
 saw that hope might die out, and that faith and courage 
 might decline. He felt that it was necessary to do some- 
 thing to meet such a state of mind, and he wrote this 
 Gospel, it is supposed, with the view of shewing the 
 Christians of his time and circle that, whatever difficulty 
 there might be with the date of their Lord's promised 
 return, there was ample witness otherwise to the reality 
 of his Messianic claims and mission. 
 
 A much more important theory, worked out with 
 remarkable ingenuity, and involving more serious issues, 
 is the one associated with the name of Baur and the 
 Tubingen School of critics in Germany. According to 
 them, this Gospel is not a simple, historical narrative, 
 but a composition of a somewhat elaborate order, a 
 tendency-writing undertaken with a definite dogmatic 
 or ecclesiastical object, and involving a skilful selection 
 and manipulation of materials with that in view. The 
 author's intention was to bring together two sharply 
 contrasted parties in the Church, one holding by Peter 
 and the more Jewish conception of Christianity, and the 
 other adhering to Paul and the freer Gentile ideas. He 
 constructed his Gospel, therefore, in the spirit of con- 
 ciliation, choosing and shaping his matter so as to offend 
 neither the one side nor the other. Some who have not 
 been able to accept this theory as a whole, have taken 
 this Gospel to be an essentially Pauline writing, intended 
 to be in some manner an answer in behalf of Pauline 
 Christianity to the claims understood to be made in the 
 Book of Revelation and elsewhere in the interest of the 
 original apostles. 
 
 But these theories of definite doctrinal or ecclesiastical 
 objects ruling this Gospel, determining the use which the 
 writer made of the materials at his disposal, and imply- 
 ing that he took srreat liberties with these materials are 
 
INTRODUCTION 29 
 
 at variance with the simple, unstudied, matter-of-fact 
 character of the writing, and give it an elaborate and 
 artificial aspect that is alien to it. This Gospel bears 
 witness, no doubt, in its own way, as the others do in 
 theirs, to Jesus as the true Messiah. But it is to push 
 matters too far when it is pronounced to be dominated 
 by the idea of counteracting the unhappy effects produced 
 by the delay of Christ's return. The theory of Baur 
 rests on the supposition of a radical difference of principle 
 between two sections of the primitive Church which is 
 not made historically good. And the peculiar Pauline 
 character asserted for the Gospel is not sustained by any 
 sufficient body of facts. It is founded on precarious in- 
 ferences drawn from the prominence given in Mark to 
 certain shortcomings on the part of the original disciples, 
 their dullness in spiritual discernment, their lack of power 
 on certain occasions, and things of that kind which are 
 frankly recorded (cf. ch. ix. 10-12, 18, 19, 32, 38, &c). 
 There is nothing in such doubtful and overdriven methods 
 of construing this Gospel to lead us to think of it as 
 anything else than what it appears prima facie to be, or 
 to attribute to its author any other object than to give 
 a plain reliable account of things as he knew them to 
 have occurred— such a record in short of the deeds and 
 words of the Lord Jesus and the events of his life as he 
 had received in the main from Peter, and had been asked, 
 according to tradition, to prepare for the edification of the 
 Church, when the living testimony of the apostles was no 
 more available. 
 
 14. The Integrity of the Gospel. 
 
 We have ample reason for accepting this Gospel in the 
 form in which we have it as in all essential points a 
 trustworthy representation of the original text. The 
 documentary evidence makes this clear. There are a good 
 many passages in which our authorities, manuscripts, 
 
30 ST. MARK 
 
 versions, and quotations in early Christian literature, shew 
 variations of reading. But none of these are of serious 
 moment, though some of them are of great interest. 
 Instances of the latter will be found in the following, 
 among other readings and renderings accepted by the 
 R. V. in preference to those of the A. V. — ' in Isaiah 
 the prophet,' instead of ' in the prophets ' (i. 2) ; ' guilty 
 of an eternal sin, 5 instead of ' in danger of eternal dam- 
 nation ' (iii. 29) ; ' not heeding the word spoken,' instead 
 of 'heard the word that was spoken ' (v. 36) ; ' he was much 
 perplexed,' instead of ' he did many things ' (vi. 20) ; 
 ' This he said, making all meats clean,' instead of ' purg- 
 ing all meats' (vii. 19); 'by nothing, save by prayer,' 
 in place of ' by nothing, but by prayer and fasting ' 
 (ix. 29). The only question, however, that affects the 
 right of any considerable section to be received as part 
 of the original text is in connexion with the closing 
 paragraph (xvi. 9-20). This question is raised by the 
 circumstance that in ancient documents the conclusion 
 appears in three different forms. There is the longer 
 form which is represented in our A. V. There is the 
 shorter form, ending with the words 'for they were 
 afraid ' (xvi. 8), to which, as shewn in the R. V., the 
 following verses are an appendix. There is also an 
 intermediate form, which runs somewhat as follows — 
 ' But they reported briefly the things that were given in 
 charge to Peter and those with him ; and after these 
 things Jesus himself also appeared to them, and from 
 the East and even to the West he sent forth through 
 them the holy and incorruptible message of the eternal 
 salvation. 5 
 
 This intermediate conclusion may at once be set aside. 
 It is not given by any of the Fathers. It is otherwise 
 insufficiently attested, and we have nothing to shew that 
 it was ever very widely current. On the other hand 
 there is a large body of evidence for each of the other 
 forms. The conclusion as it stands in the A. V. is sup- 
 
INTRODUCTION 31 
 
 ported by a large majority of manuscripts and versions, 
 including some of very ancient date and acknowledged 
 importance, as well as by many of the Fathers. It has 
 also in its favour, it is urged, that it brings the narrative 
 to a natural and intelligible close. On the other hand, 
 the conclusion preferred by the R. V. has on its side the 
 voice of the two oldest and most important manuscripts ; 
 and the testimony of other documents, both manuscripts 
 and versions, which are of weight, though fewer in 
 number than the longer conclusion can claim. It is sup- 
 ported also by some notable statements in early Christian 
 literature. Eusebius, e.g., speaks of vers. 9-20 as not 
 found ' in all the copies, ' or ' in the accurate copies.' It is 
 a remarkable fact, too, that in many of the Fathers, in 
 whom some reference to these verses might have been 
 expected, they are left unnoticed. There are also certain 
 things in the paragraph itself which point to the action of 
 a different hand. The style is less vivid, and the con- 
 nexion of the sentences is less simple. Mary Magdalene is 
 mentioned with the particular note of identification ' from 
 whom he had cast out seven devils,' although she has 
 been introduced already by name in the opening verse. 
 Jesus is reported to have risen 'early,' although it has 
 been already stated that it was ' very early ' when the 
 women came to the empty tomb. There is also a 
 considerable difference in the choice of terms. The 
 phrase ' the Lord ' is introduced twice, which is not 
 used elsewhere by Mark ; and words are selected to 
 express going, following, hurting, working together, 
 confirming, &c, which are not found in the body of the 
 Gospel. For these and other reasons, therefore, the 
 shorter ending, notwithstanding its abruptness, is pre- 
 ferred by the majority of scholars, and it is accepted by 
 the American Revisers as well as by the English. 
 
 The paragraph in question, however, does not lose its 
 value. Though it may not have belonged to the original 
 form of the Gospel, it must have been added to it at 
 
3? ST. MARK 
 
 a very early date, by the original hand, or by some other 
 competent witness— some informed companion or disciple 
 of Mark. It has been supposed, indeed, that a clue to 
 the authorship is furnished by an old Armenian manu- 
 script discovered a few years ago, which speaks of the 
 section as being ' Of the presbyter Ariston.' This Ariston 
 may be, it is thought, the Aristion who is mentioned by 
 Papias as one of the disciples of the Lord. Be this as 
 it may, the paragraph remains an independent and his- 
 torically credible account of the events of the Forty Days, 
 of very ancient date, and of primitive authority. It may 
 have been added in order to complete the original draft 
 of the Gospel, or to make good a loss which the original 
 conclusion somehow had sustained. 
 
 15. Characteristics of the Gospel. 
 
 No careful reader can fail to be conscious of a certain 
 note of difference between Mark and the companion 
 Gospels. This Gospel has qualities which distinguish 
 it very clearly from the others. These qualities are of 
 great interest. They give the book a genius which is 
 quite its own, and make it full of charm. Among the 
 most noticeable is the plain, direct \ business-like character 
 of its narrative. There is little of the writer's own notions 
 of things in it, little of the imprint of his own mind. In 
 this respect it differs greatly from the Fourth Gospel, in 
 which the narrative bears so much the stamp of the author's 
 own ways of thought and forms of speech. What Mark 
 gives us is a simple, objective report of things as he saw 
 them himself or heard them from others. It is not the 
 product of art, nor is it the work of reflection. It is a 
 record of facts as they literally and really were. 
 
 But while all is simple, and there is in it nothing 
 of the laboured effort of the stylist or the theorist, the 
 Gospel has a natural vividness, a sharpness and colour in 
 its description, which might challenge comparison with 
 
INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 the best achievements of the art that conceals art. The 
 peculiarly graphic, life-like quality of its narrative at 
 once arrests attention. It makes us see things as if they 
 were beneath our own eye in all their sharpness. Thus it is 
 that it chooses so often the direct form of speech — ' Peace, 
 be still ' (iv. 39) ; ' Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out 
 of the man' (v. 8); 'Send us into the swine' (v. 12); 
 'Come ye yourselves apart' (vi. 31); 'Thou dumb and 
 deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter 
 no more into him ' (ix. 25). 
 
 Thus it is, too, that in many cases a single word or 
 phrase contains a picture in itself, and makes a scene 
 peculiarly real to us. Look, for example, at the descrip- 
 tions of the Baptist ' stooping down ' like a slave to 
 unloose the shoe-latchet of Jesus (i. 7) ; of the heavens 
 in the act of 'rending asunder' (i. 10); of the 7?woii?ig 
 of the boat to the Gennesaret shore (vi. 53) ; of the 
 maid coming on Peter warming himself (xiv. 66). And 
 so it is that the longer narratives are brightened by a 
 series of vivid touches, one here and another there, and 
 always in the right place, which illumine them and bring 
 them home to the imagination. We see this in the story 
 of the paralytic, with its pictures of the crowd about the 
 door, the sick man borne of four, the breaking up of 
 the roof, the sufferer arising straightway, taking up his 
 bed, and going forth in sight of all cured (ii. 1-12). We 
 see it in the description of the storm on the lake— the 
 winds roaring, the waves dashing upon the small vessel 
 and beginning to fill it, the Master on the pillow in the 
 deep sleep of utter weariness, the terror of the disciples, 
 the waking of the Lord, the authoritative word, the 
 instant peace (iv. 35-41). The same is the case with 
 the narratives of the Gadarene demoniac (v. 1-20) ; the 
 feeding of the five thousand, with the characteristic 
 mention of the fresh greenness of the grass on which 
 the hungry people were made to sit down by companies 
 and in ranks (vi. 39-40) ; the healing of the blind man 
 
34 ST. MARK 
 
 (viii. 22-26) ; the description of the dumb spirit crying out 
 and tearing the child, and so coming out of him (ix. 26). 
 Nor should we omit Mark's version of the story of the 
 Transfiguration, with its characteristic representations of 
 the dazzling, lucent robes and the scenes of tumult and 
 anguish beneath. 'As you gaze,' says Dean Farrar, 'on 
 Raffaelle's immortal picture of the Transfiguration, you 
 will see at once that it is from the narrative of St. Mark 
 that it derives most of its intensity, its movement, its 
 colouring, its contrast, and its power.' 
 
 This Gospel is remarkable also for a certain quality 
 which, for lack of a better term, may be called its 7'ealism. 
 Its statements of events are not merely descriptive, but 
 realistic. Things are given as if the eye of the writer 
 were upon the objects and his pen followed his eye. His 
 narrative has a circumstantial character which shews itself 
 not merely in its large effects, but in a multitude of minute 
 touches. It is reproduction rather than representation. 
 There is a constant, careful regard for those smaller 
 points which help to make a scene definite and distinct. 
 It is the Gospel of minuteness and detail. It gives the 
 particulars of persons, times, numbers, positions, and the 
 like. It speaks of Simon of Cyrene as 'the father of 
 Alexander and Rums' (xv. 21) ; of Joseph of ArimathaDa 
 as 'a councillor of honourable estate, who also himself was 
 looking for the kingdom of God ' (xv. 43) ; of Peter as 
 'warming himself at the fire, and going out 'into the 
 porch' immediately before the cock crew (xiv. 67, 68). It 
 shews us the swine rushing 'down the steep into the sea' 
 and tells us they were ' about two thousand ' in number 
 (v. 13). It notices how the healed demoniac preached 
 ' in Decapolis ' (v. 20) ; how the disciples were sent forth 
 ' two and two ' (vi. 7) ; how the centurion ' stood by over 
 against Jesus ' (xv. 39) ; how the young man was seen 
 'sitting on the right side' in the tomb (xvi. 5). It 
 describes how, on the occasion of the miracle of the 
 feeding of the five thousand, the people were made to sit 
 
INTRODUCTION 35 
 
 down 'in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties' (vi. 40). It 
 gives precise indications of the times of most solemn 
 moment in our Lord's life — how he went to pray, rising 
 up 'a great while before day' (i. 35); how it was 'the 
 third hour when they crucified him' (xv. 25); how it 
 was 'very early on the first day of the week,' . . . ' when 
 the sun was risen,' that the women came to his sepulchre 
 (xvi. 2). It is not less exact in its statements of the 
 places he frequented and the situations in which he 
 appeared. It tells us how he withdrew 'to the sea' 
 (iii. 7); how he 'sat in the sea' (iv. 1); how he was 
 ' in the stern, asleep on the cushion ' (iv. 38) ; how he 
 'sat down over against the treasury' (xii. 41); how he 
 'sat on the mount of Olives, over against the temple' 
 (xiii. 3> 
 
 Nor is it only the incidents themselves that Mark's 
 Gospel reproduces in this distinct and circumstantial way ; 
 it does the same in many cases with the effects produced 
 by the events. It makes us sensible of the impressions 
 left upon the spectators and hearers. It depicts the 
 iuo7ider and awe with which Christ's words were listened 
 to and his mighty deeds witnessed. It shews us the 
 fear, the astonishment, the sore amazement of the disciples 
 (iv. 41, vi. 51, x. 24, 26). It shews us, too, the eagerness, 
 the impetuosity, the unrestrained insistence of the people 
 as they thro?iged and pressed him till they left him and 
 those with him scarce room to stand, or sit down, or 
 even to eat (ii. 2, iii. 10, 20, 32, iv. I, v. 21, 31, vi. 31, 33, 
 viii. 1). 
 
 Its narrative has also the qualities of movement and 
 activity. Though it does not confine itself entirely to 
 the works of Jesus, but retains a certain place for his 
 words, its chief concern, nevertheless, is with what he did 
 and what he experienced. It is the Gospel primarily of 
 his acts, and in reporting these acts it proceeds from one 
 to another in a rapid and direct way. It has little in 
 the form of episode. The one large example of that is 
 
 D 2 
 
36 ST. MARK 
 
 the explanatory account which is given of Herod and his 
 relations with John the Baptist (vi. 17-29). It has little 
 or nothing in the way of reflection. It makes very little 
 attempt to shew the connexions of things, or to link one 
 part of its narrative to another by any device of the 
 literary craftsman's art. It begins its recital with little 
 in the way of preface, and takes up at once its proper 
 subject — the public ministry of Christ. And its report of 
 the events in that ministry is always straight and swift. 
 It takes us from one thing to another by transitions which 
 seem at times abrupt. One of its most characteristic 
 terms is the word ' immediately.' For one occurrence of 
 that word in Luke we have five in Mark. 
 
 This Gospel also gives a special view of him who is 
 the subject of all the Gospels. Each of the four Gospels 
 makes its characteristic contribution to the great picture 
 of the Saviour of Israel and the world. Each has its own 
 way of setting forth his personality and his life, and 
 Mark has his. It is the simplest and the most objective. 
 He does not dwell, as Matthew does, on the Messianic 
 relations of Jesus and the fulfilment of Old Testament 
 prophecy in his life and ministry. Neither does he 
 make it his primary object, as Luke does, to keep before 
 us those aspects of the life of Jesus and his intercourse 
 with different types of humanity which shew him to be 
 a Redeemer suited to all kinds of sinners, a friend meant 
 for men of all ranks, nationalities, and characters. Far 
 less does he exhibit him in the eternal antecedents of 
 his life and the higher mysteries of his person, as John 
 does. All these things are in his Gospel, but they are 
 not there in the proportions which they have in the 
 others. He is content to set Jesus before us just as he had 
 been seen moving about in Galilee and Judaea, a man 
 among men, mixing freely with the different classes of 
 Jewish people to be found in these parts, doing good 
 continually, performing mighty deeds, and speaking 
 words of grace which impressed them with the sense 
 
INTRODUCTION 37 
 
 that he was a prophet, nay more than a prophet— the Son 
 of God. 
 
 The story of this sacred life, as it is told in the Second 
 Gospel, has certain features which are less prominent in 
 the others. It has a special interest, for example, in our 
 Lord's periods of retirement. It notices, one after another, 
 a series of retreats which took place at important points 
 in his public ministry. It tells us how he withdrew to 
 ' a desert place ' after the first deeds of healing (i 35) ; 
 to 'desert places 5 after the cleansing of the leper (i. 45) ; 
 to the lake after the restoration of the man with the 
 withered hand (iii. 7-13) ; to the villages after his re- 
 jection at Nazareth (vi. 6) ; to ' a desert place ' after the 
 murder of the Baptist (vi. 30-32) ; to ' the borders of Tyre 
 and Sidon ' after the opposition of the party of the Pharisees 
 (vii. 24) ; to the neighbourhood of Cassarea Philippi after 
 the restoration of sight to the blind man (viii. 27) ; to 
 the range of Hennon after the first open announcement 
 of his coming Passion (ix. 2) ; and to Bethany after his 
 triumphal entry into the Holy City (xi. 1 1), and after the 
 purging of the Temple (xi. 19). 
 
 It preserves for us also more of the words of Jesus in the 
 original vernacular than we have in any of the other Gospels. 
 The list includes these — Boanerges (iii. 17), Talitha cunil 
 (v. 41), Corban (vii. 11), Ephphatha (vii. 34), Bartimcetts 
 (x. 46), Abba (xiv. 36), Golgotha (xv. 22), Eloi ! Eloi! lama 
 sabachthani? (xv. 34). And further, it has a peculiar fond- 
 ness for noticing how our Lord acted, looked, and com- 
 ported himself. On not a few occasions it carefully records 
 his attitudes, gestures, and movements. It brings him 
 before us as he ■ looked round about ' on the people in 
 the synagogue (iii. 5) ; as he ' turned him about in the 
 crowd ' (v. 30) ; and again as he was ' turning about, and 
 seeing his disciples' (viii. 33) ; and yet again as he 'looked 
 round about upon all things' in the profaned temple (xi. 11). 
 It tells us, too, how he ' sat down, and called the Twelve ' 
 (ix. 35) ; how he ' looked up to heaven ' when he took the 
 
38 ST. MARK 
 
 loaves and the fishes on the occasion of the miracle of the 
 five thousand (vi. 41), and again when he healed the deaf 
 man who had the impediment in his speech (vii. 34). When 
 it relates the incident of the rich young ruler, it tells us 
 how Jesus 'looking upon him loved him,'" and 'looked round 
 about' when he spoke to his disciples (x. 21, 23). And 
 when it speaks of the Lord's regard for children it tells us 
 how on one occasion he 'took a little child' and set him 
 before the disputing disciples, and 'taking him in his arms,' 
 spoke to them (ix. 36) ; and how on another occasion he 
 took the little children who had been brought to him that 
 he might touch them 'in his arms, and blessed them, laying 
 his hands upon them ' (x. 16). 
 
 This Gospel, therefore, presents Jesus in the reality of his 
 proper and complete humanity. It exhibits him as the 
 bearer of a nature identical with our own, as seen in the 
 sense of hunger (xi. 12), the need of rest (iv. 38), the recoil 
 from death (xiv. 36) ; and not in these things only, but 
 also in the feelings which he had in common with us —his 
 compassion (vi. 34, viii. 2), his love (x. 21), his serene 
 composure in danger and in trial (iv. 37-40, xv. 5), his 
 longing for solitude (i. 35, vi. 30-32), his wonder (vi. 6), 
 his grief (iii. 5), his sighing (vii. 34, viii. 12), his anger and 
 displeasure (iii. 5, x. 14). 
 
 But it also presents him in his superhuman power. 
 It gives a large place to his deeds of might. It sets him 
 before us as one endowed with the gift of miracle. It 
 shews us how he exercised that gift on suitable occasion ; 
 what an impression was produced by it both upon the 
 people and upon his disciples (i. 27, ii. 12, vii. 37) ; how 
 the multitudes recognized it, and believed in it, and were 
 eager to avail themselves of it, bringing their sick and 
 distressed ones to him, not doubting that he was able to 
 relieve and heal ; how they were so certain indeed of this 
 that they thought it enough if they could but get him to 
 notice them, or could even touch his garments (i. 32, iii. 10, 
 v. 28, vi. 56). 
 
INTRODUCTION 39 
 
 It does not do this at the cost of other facts which 
 appear in the course of his ministry. It frankly records 
 things which speak rather of infirmity and a limitation of 
 power. It reports how in the beginning of his work the 
 unclean spirits resisted him (i. 24). It tells us that in 
 Nazareth he could 'do no mighty work' (vi. 5). But 
 it brings into clear relief the reality and the energy of 
 a power resident in him which was of more than man's 
 measure. If Matthew presents him as the son of David 
 and the son of Abraham, in whom all Israel's hopes are 
 made good ; if Luke gives us to see in him the son of 
 Adam, the perfect Man, the Redeemer for all mankind ; and 
 if John reveals to us in him the Eternal Word in whom is 
 the fullness of the Godhead, this Second Gospel presents 
 him as the 'man approved of God unto you by mighty 
 works and wonders and signs, which God did by him ' 
 of whom Peter spoke (Acts ii. 22), ' the Son of God with 
 power ' whom Paul declared to be the subject of his gospel 
 and the promise of the prophets (Rom. i. 1-4). 
 
 16. Ancient Testimonies to Mark's Gospel. 
 
 Reference has been made in the above to the state- 
 ments which have come down to us from early Christian 
 literature on the subject of Mark and his Gospel. It 
 will be of advantage to the English reader to have the 
 more important of these before him in their fullness. 
 We give them in their historical order. 
 
 I. Papias. Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, very early 
 in the second century. From his five books which had 
 the title of Expositions of Oracles of the Lord. The 
 sentences are preserved for us in the Ecclesiastical 
 History of Eusebius, iii. 39. They run as follows: — 
 
 ' Papias also gives in his own work other accounts of the 
 words of the Lord on the authority of Aristion who has 
 been mentioned above, and traditions of the Elder John. 
 To these we refer the curious, and for our present purpose 
 we shall merely add to his words, which have been quoted 
 
40 ST. MARK 
 
 above, a tradition which has been set forth through these 
 sources concerning Mark who wrote the Gospel : — 
 
 "And the Elder said this also: Mark, having become 
 the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately everything 
 that he remembered, without however recording in order 
 what was either said or done by Christ. For neither did 
 he hear the Lord, nor did he follow him ; but afterwards, 
 as I said, [attended] Peter, who adapted his instructions 
 to the needs [of his hearers], but had no design of giving 
 a connected account of the Lord's oracles. So then Mark 
 made no mistake, while he thus wrote down some things 
 as he remembered them ; for he made it his own care 
 not to omit anything that he heard, or to set down any 
 false statement therein." Such then is the account given 
 by Papias concerning Mark' (see Gwatkin's Selections 
 from Early Christian Writers, pp. 42, 43). 
 
 2. Justin Martyr. First half of the second century. 
 From his Dialogue with Tryftho the Jew. He refers to 
 the fact that our Lord gave the name Peter to one of 
 his Apostles, and the name Boanerges to two others, 
 namely, James and John ; of which two facts the latter 
 is mentioned by Mark alone. In doing this he proceeds 
 as follows : — 
 
 'And when it is said that he imposed on one of the 
 Apostles the name Peter, and when this is recorded in 
 his " Memoirs,' 3 with this other fact that he named the 
 two sons of Zebedee Boanerges, which means Sons of 
 Thunder, this is a sign that it was he by whom Jacob 
 was called Israel and Auses, Jesus (Oshea, Joshua).' 
 As Justin elsewhere speaks of the 'Memoirs of the 
 Apostles,' the expression 'his Memoirs' in the above 
 statement is taken to mean ' Peter's Memoirs.' 
 
 3. Irenoztis. Bishop of Lyons. The latter half of the 
 second century. From the third book of his treatise 
 Against Heresies, Chapter I. 
 
 He says of the Apostles, that, when they had been 
 clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit and fully 
 
INTRODUCTION 41 
 
 furnished for the work of evangelization everywhere, they 
 ' went out to the ends of the earth, preaching the Gospel.' 
 He then mentions how ' Matthew went eastward to those 
 of Hebrew descent, and preached to them in their own 
 tongue, in which he also published a writing of the 
 Gospel,' and how Peter and Paul ' went westward and 
 preached, and founded the church in Rome.' He then 
 proceeds thus : — 
 
 ' But after the departure of these, Mark the disciple 
 and interpreter of Peter, even he, delivered to us in 
 writing the things which were preached by Peter.' 
 
 4. Cleme?it of 'Alexandria. End of the second century 
 and beginning of the third. From his book entitled 
 Hypotyposes or Outlines. The passage is preserved by 
 Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. vi. 14. It is in these terms: — 
 
 'The occasion for writing the Gospel according to 
 Mark was as follows : That after Peter had publicly 
 preached the word in Rome, and declared the Gospel 
 by the Spirit, many who were present entreated Mark, 
 as one who had followed the Apostle for long time 
 and remembered what had been spoken, to commit to 
 writing the things said ; and that he, having composed 
 the Gospel, made it over to those who asked him ; and 
 that Peter, when he came to know this, did nothing in the 
 way of exhortation either to prevent or to encourage it.' 
 
 5. Tertullian. Of Carthage. About the same time 
 as Clement. From his book Against Jlfarcion, iv. 5 ; 
 published about 207 or 208 A.D. 
 
 He mentions the four Gospels, and refers to two of 
 them as being from ' apostles ' and two from ' apostolical 
 men.' Then, having affirmed the authority of Luke's 
 Gospel, he continues thus : — 
 
 'The same authority of the Apostolic Churches will 
 likewise endorse the other Gospels which we have in 
 the same manner by their means and according to them 
 — I mean those of John and Matthew — while that which 
 Mark published may be affirmed to be Peter's, whose 
 
42 ST. MARK 
 
 interpreter Mark was. For even Luke's form of the 
 Gospel men usually ascribe to Paul. And it may well 
 seem that the works which disciples publish belong to 
 their masters.' 
 
 6. Origen. Of Alexandria. The early part of the third 
 century. From his Commentary on the Gospel acco?'ding 
 to Matthew. 
 
 He speaks of four unchallenged and unchallengeable 
 Gospels as received throughout the Church, and with 
 reference to the one in question he expresses himself 
 thus : — 
 
 ' The second of them is that according to Mark, who 
 composed it under the guidance of Peter, who, therefore, 
 in his Catholic Epistle acknowledged the evangelist as 
 his son, saying, The co-elect in Babylon saluteth you, arid 
 Mark my son' 
 
 7. Eusebius. The Church historian of Ca^sarea. 
 About the close of the third century and the beginning 
 of the fourth. From his Evangelical Demonstration, iii. 5. 
 
 He says that though the Apostle Peter, ' by reason of 
 excess of modesty, did not undertake to write a Gospel, 
 it had yet all along been currently reported that Mark, 
 who had become his familiar acquaintance and attendant, 
 made memoirs of his discourses concerning the doings 
 of Jesus.' Then, referring to the fact that Mark's Gospel 
 gives a detailed and exact account of Peter's denial of his 
 Lord, he proceeds thus : — 
 
 4 It is Mark indeed who writes these things. But it is 
 Peter who testifies them concerning himself; for all the 
 contents of Mark's Gospel are regarded as memoirs of 
 Peter's discourses.' 
 
 In his Ecclesiastical History, Book II. ch. xv, the same 
 writer makes this statement : — 
 
 'So greatly, however, did the splendour of piety enlighten 
 the minds of Peter's hearers that it was not sufficient to 
 hear but once, nor to receive the unwritten doctrine ot 
 the Gospel of God, but they persevered in every variety 
 
INTRODUCTION 43 
 
 of entreaties to solicit Mark, as the companion of Peter, 
 and whose Gospel we have, that he should leave them 
 a monument of the doctrine thus orally communicated 
 in writing". Nor did they cease their solicitations until 
 they had prevailed with the man, and thus become the 
 means of that history which is called the Gospel according 
 to Mark. They say also that the Apostle (Peter), having 
 ascertained what was done by the revelation of the Spirit, 
 was delighted with the zealous ardour expressed by these 
 men, and that the history obtained his authority for the 
 purpose of being read in the churches. This account is 
 given by Clement in the sixth book of his Institutions, 
 whose teaching is corroborated also by that of Papias, 
 Bishop of Hierapolis. But Peter makes mention of Mark 
 in his first Epistle, which he is also said to have composed 
 at the same city of Rome, and that he shews this fact 
 by calling the city by an unusual trope, Babylon ; thus : 
 '•The Church at Babylon elected together with you. 
 saluteth you, as also my son Marcus 5 " (Bohn's Tr.). 
 
 And in the sixteenth chapter of the same book of his 
 History Eusebius expresses himself further as follows: — 
 
 t The same Mark, they also say, being the first that was 
 sent to Egypt, proclaimed the Gospel there which he 
 had written, and first established churches at the city of 
 Alexandria. And so great a multitude of believers, both 
 of men and women, were collected there at the very out- 
 set, that in consequence of their extreme philosophical 
 discipline and austerity, Philo has considered their pur- 
 suits, their assemblies, and entertainments, and in short 
 their whole manner of life, as deserving a place in his 
 descriptions.' 
 
 8. Epiphanius. Bishop of Constantia, the ancient 
 Salamis of Cyprus, an opponent of Origen. Born early in 
 the fourth century, died early in the fifth. From his 
 Panarion or Drugchest, a work in which he described and 
 refuted a multitude of heresies. His testimony is this : — 
 
 1 But immediately after Matthew, Mark, having become 
 
44 ST. MARK 
 
 an attendant of the holy Peter in Rome, had committed 
 to him the task of setting forth the Gospel. Having 
 completed his work, he was sent by the holy Peter into 
 the country of the Egyptians ' (see Morrison's Practical 
 Commentary on the Gosfiel according to St. Mark, p. 20). 
 
 9. Jerome. Born at Stridon on the border between 
 Dalmatia and Pannonia, about 340-342 a. d. ; died at 
 Bethlehem 420 A. D. From his Catalogue of Illustrious 
 Men and his Letter to Hedibia. 
 
 In the latter he says that Paul had 'Titus as interpreter, 
 as also the blessed Peter had Mark, whose Gospel was 
 composed, Peter narrating and he writing.' In the 
 former he speaks to this effect : — 
 
 ' Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, wrote a 
 brief Gospel, at the request of the brethren in Rome, in 
 accordance with what he had heard related by Peter. 
 This Gospel, when it was read over to Peter, was approved 
 of and published by his authority, to be read in the 
 churches.' 
 
 10. Augustine. Bishop of Hippo. Born at Tagaste 
 in Numidia 353 A. D. ; died at Hippo in North Africa 
 430 a. D. From his treatise on The Harmony of the 
 Evangelists. 
 
 In the second chapter of the first book of the treatise he 
 discusses the order of the Evangelists and the principles 
 on which they wrote. Having spoken of Matthew he 
 proceeds thus: — 
 
 'Mark follows him closely, and looks like his atten- 
 dant and epitomizer. For in his narrative he gives 
 nothing in concert with John apart from the others ; 
 by himself separately, he has little to record ; in con- 
 junction with Luke, as distinguished from the rest, he has 
 still less ; but in concord with Matthew, he has a very 
 large number of passages. Much, too, he narrates in words 
 almost numerically and identically the same as those used 
 by Matthew, where the agreement is either with that 
 evangelist alone, or with him in conjunction with the rest.' 
 
INTRODUCTION 45 
 
 17. Literature. 
 
 In addition to the well-known works on New Testament 
 Introduction, Articles in the Bible Dictionaries, &c, the 
 following books may be recommended as useful for 
 English readers. Those entirely in English are marked 
 with an asterisk. 
 
 Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Gospels of 
 Mark and Luke. T. & T. Clark's translation. 
 
 Ai.ford, Greek Testament, vol. i. 
 
 *Riddle, The Gospel of Mark. (Schaff's Popular Commentary 
 on the New Testament.') 
 
 The Expositor s Greek Testament. Vol. i, The S3'noptic Gospels, 
 by Professor Bruce. 
 
 *Morrison, A Practical Commentary on the Gospel according 
 to St. Mark. 
 
 *Plumptre, The Gospel according to St. Matthew, St. Mark, and 
 St. Luke. (Ellicott's New Testament for English Readers, 
 vol. i.) 
 
 Swete, The Gospel according to St. Mark. 
 
 Gould. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel 
 according to St. Mark. (International Critical Com- 
 mentary.) 
 
 *Clarke, Commentaiy on the Gospel of Mark. (American 
 Baptist Publication Society.) 
 
 *Lyman Abbott, The New Testament with Notes and Comments. 
 Vol. i, Matthew and Mark. 
 
 *Maclear, Gospel according to St. Mark. (The Cambridge Bible 
 for Schools and Colleges.) 
 
 ♦Lindsay, The Gospel according to St. Mark. (T. & T. Clark, 
 Handbooks for Bible Classes.) 
 
 *Solly, The Gospel according to Mark. (Carpenter's Bible 
 Manuals.) 
 
 Allan Menzies, The Earliest Gospel. 
 
CONTENTS AND ANALYSIS 
 
 I. Ll. Title. 
 
 II. i. 2-13. Immediate Antecedents of the Public Minis- 
 
 try of Jesus. 
 
 The Mission of John. The Baptism of Jesus. The Descent of 
 the Spirit. The Heavenly attestation. The Temptation 
 of Jesus. 
 
 III. i. 14 — vii. 23. Ministry in Galilee, Eastern and 
 
 North-Eastern . 
 First preaching. Call of disciples. A Sabbath in Capernaum. 
 Cure of a demoniac, restoration of Peter's mother-in-law, 
 divers healings. Prayer in a solitary place. Preaching in 
 Galilean synagogues. Cure of leper. Cure and forgive- 
 ness of paralytic. Call of Levi and feast in his house. 
 Words on fasting. Plucking ears of corn, and statement 
 of Sabbath Law. Healing of man with withered hand in 
 the synagogue on the Sabbath. Growing acceptance with 
 the people. Appointment of the Twelve. Interference 
 of friends. Accusations of Scribes of Jerusalem. Words 
 on the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The kinsfolk 
 of Jesus, natural and spiritual. Teaching by Parables — 
 The Sower, the Lamp, the Measure, the Fruit-bearing 
 Earth, the Mustard Seed. The Stilling of the Storm. The 
 Gerasenes and the demoniac named Legion. The healing 
 of the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising of 
 the daughter of Jairus. The unbelief of those of his own 
 country. His village-teaching. Mission of the Twelve. 
 The story of Herod, and the murder of John the Baptist. 
 Retirement of the Apostles for rest. Feeding of the Five 
 Thousand. Dispatch of the disciples to Bethsaida. Jesus 
 in prayer on the mountain. His walking on the Sea. 
 Works of healing in the district of Gennesaret. Entang- 
 ling questions of the Scribes and Pharisees on washings. 
 Refutation by Jesus. The things that defile. 
 
CONTENTS OF THE GOSPEL 47 
 
 IV. vii. 24— viii. 26. Detour into the borders of Tyre 
 
 and Sidon, and Return. 
 
 Healing of the Syrophcenician woman's daughter. Return 
 to the Sea of Galilee. Cure of a deaf man having an 
 impediment of speech. Feeding of the Four Thousand. 
 Demand of the Pharisees for a sign. Warnings against 
 the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. 
 Cure of the blind man at Bethsaida. 
 
 V. viii. 27 — ix.50. Withdrawal to the parts about Caesarea 
 
 Fhilippi, and Return to North- Eastern Galilee. 
 
 Caesarea Philippi and Peter's confession. Jesus speaks of 
 his sufferings, death, and resurrection. Peter rebuking 
 and being rebuked. Words on denial of self and saving 
 of the soul. The Transfiguration. Descent from the 
 Mount, and words on the coming of Elijah. Cure of 
 a boy possessed of a dumb spirit. Further announcement 
 by Jesus of his death and resurrection. The Twelve and 
 the little child in Capernaum. Rebuke of John. Warn- 
 ings against causes of stumbling. 
 
 VI. x. 1-52. Withdrawal into Feraea, and Journey into 
 
 Judaea. 
 
 Jesus in the parts beyond Jordan. Words on marriage and 
 divorce. Rebuke of the disciples, and the blessing of little 
 children. The rich young ruler. Words on riches and the 
 Kingdom, and on sacrifice and reward. Jesus on the way 
 to Jerusalem. More particular intimations of his passion 
 and resurrection. Ambitious request of the sons of Zebedec, 
 and indignation of the disciples. The glory of service. 
 At Jericho. Healing of blind Bartimaeus. 
 
 VII. xi. 1 — xiii. 37. Ministry in Jerusalem. 
 
 Jesus at the Mount of Olives. Dispatch of two disciples 
 to fetch a colt. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 
 Cursing of the barren fig-tree. Purging of the Temple. 
 Words on the might of faith. Conflict with the Jewish 
 leaders. Challenge of his authority in the Temple. Par- 
 able of the Vineyard. Entangling questions regarding 
 tribute and the resurrection. The Scribe's question as to 
 the first of all the Commandments. The question of Jesus 
 concerning David's son. Warning against the Scribes. 
 The widow's mites. Prophetic discourse regarding the 
 fate of the Temple and the Cit}'. The things of the end 
 and the coming of the Son of Man. Exhortations to 
 watchfulness. 
 
48 CONTENTS OF THE GOSPEL 
 
 VIII. xiv. 1 — xv. 47. Events of Passion Week. 
 
 Plot of the Chief Priests and Scribes. The anointing in the 
 house of Simon the Leper. The bargain between Judas 
 and the Chief Priests. The preparation for the Passover. 
 Intimation of his betrayal. The Lord's Supper. Predic- 
 tion of Peter's faithlessness. The agony in Gethsemane. 
 The Betrayal. The incident of the young man. Jesus 
 before the High Priest. Peter's denials. Jesus before 
 Pilate. Jesus and Barabbas. The purple robe and the 
 crown of thorns. Simon the Cyrenian. Golgotha and 
 the Crucifixion. The darkness over the land, and the 
 death of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathsea and the burial. 
 
 IX. xvi. 1-8. The Resurrection. 
 
 The women at the tomb. Christ risen. The message to 
 the disciples and Peter. 
 
 X. xvi. 9-20. Appendix : The appearances of the risen 
 
 Lord. 
 
 Appearance to Mary. Appearance to two disciples on the 
 way. Appearance to the Eleven at meat. The Ascension. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 AUTHORIZED VERSION 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, chap, l 
 j the Son of God ; as it is written in the prophets, ~~~ 
 Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, of John. 
 
 3 which shall prepare thy way before thee. The 
 voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare yc 
 the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 
 
 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach 
 the baptism of repentance for the remission of 
 
 5 sins. And there went out unto him all the land 
 of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all 
 baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing 
 
 C their sins. And John was clothed with camel's 
 hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins ; 
 
 7 and he did eat locusts and wild honey ; and 
 preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than 
 I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not 
 
 8 worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed 
 have baptized you with water : but he shall baptize 
 you with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus Baptism 
 came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of J esus - 
 
 io of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up 
 
 out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and 
 
 ii the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: a.nd 
 
 L 2 
 
52 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap, l there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 
 
 And immediately the spirit driveth him into the 12 
 wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness 13 
 forty days, tempted of Satan ; and was with the 
 wild beasts ; and the angels ministered unto him. 
 
 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus 14 
 came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the 
 kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, 15 
 and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, 
 and believe the gospel. 
 
 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw 16 
 Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into 
 the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said 17 
 unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make 
 you to become fishers of men. And straightway 
 they forsook their nets, and followed him. And 
 when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw 
 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, 
 who also were in the ship mending their nets. 
 And straightway he called them — and they left 20 
 their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired 
 servants, and went after him. 
 
 And they went into Capernaum ; and straightway 2 1 
 on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, 
 and taught. And they were astonished at his 
 doctrine : for he taught them as one that had 
 authority, and not as the scribes. And there was 
 in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit ; 
 and he cried out, saying, Let us alone ; what have 24 
 we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art 
 thou come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou 
 art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked 25 
 
 is 
 19 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
ST. MARK 53 
 
 him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. Chap.i 
 
 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and 
 
 27 cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And 
 they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned 
 among themselves, saying, What thing is this ? what 
 new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth 
 he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 
 
 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout 
 all the region round about Galilee. 
 
 29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the Peter's 
 synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon la ^. # 
 
 30 and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon's 
 wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they 
 
 31 tell him of her. And he came and took her by 
 the hand, and lifted her up ; and immediately the 
 fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 
 
 32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought Divers 
 unto him all that were diseased, and them that ea mgs ' 
 
 33 were possessed with devils. And all the city was 
 
 34 gathered together at the door. And he healed 
 many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast 
 out many devils ; and suffered not the devils to 
 speak, because they knew him. 
 
 35 And in the morning, rising up a great while With- 
 before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary a^oMary 
 
 36 place, and there prayed. And Simon and they P lac ^. 
 
 37 that were with him followed after him. And when 
 they had found him, they said unto him, All men 
 
 38 seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go 
 into the next towns, that I may preach there also : 
 
 30 for therefore came I forth. And he preached in 
 their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast 
 out devils. 
 
54 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. i And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, 40 
 Healing of an d kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, 
 a leper. jf thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And 41 
 Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, 
 and touched him, and saith unto him, I will ; be 
 thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, 42 
 immediately the leprosy departed from him, and 
 he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, 4?, 
 and forthwith sent him away ; and saith unto him, 44 
 See thou say nothing to any man : but go thy way, 
 shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleans- 
 ing those things which Moses commanded, for a 
 testimony unto them. But he went out, and began 45 
 to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, 
 insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter 
 into the city, but was without in desert places : 
 and they came to him from every quarter. 
 
 And again he entered into Capernaum after 2 
 some days ; and it was noised that he was in the 
 house. And straightway many were gathered 2 
 together, insomuch that there was no room to 
 receive them, no, not so much as about the door : 
 and he preached the word unto them. And they 3 
 come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, 
 which was borne of four. And when they could 4 
 not come nigh unto him for the press, they 
 uncovered the roof where he was : and when they 
 had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein 
 the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their 5 
 faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy 
 sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of 6 
 the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their 
 hearts, Why doth tin's man thus speak blasphemies ? 7 
 
ST. MARK 55 
 
 8 who can forgive sins but God only ? And Chap. 2 
 immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit 
 
 that they so reasoned within themselves, he said 
 unto them, Why reason ye these things in your 
 
 9 hearts ? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of 
 the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, 
 
 io Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that 
 ye may know that the Son of man hath power 
 on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of 
 
 ir the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up 
 
 12 thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And 
 immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went 
 forth before them all ; insomuch that they were 
 all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never 
 saw it on this fashion. 
 
 13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and Call of 
 all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught 
 
 i\ them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son 
 of Alphreus sitting at the receipt of custom, and 
 said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and 
 
 15 followed him. And it came to pass, that, as 
 Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans 
 and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his 
 disciples : for there were many, and they followed 
 
 16 him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw 
 him eat with publicans and sinners, they said 
 unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and 
 
 17 drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus 
 heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole 
 have no need of the physician, but they that are 
 sick : I came not to call the righteous, but sinners 
 
 to renentance. „ .. 
 
 Question 
 
 iS And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees of fasting. 
 
56 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 2 used to fast : and they come and say unto him, 
 Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees 
 fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said 19 
 unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber 
 fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long 
 as they have the bridegroom with them, they 
 cannot fast. But the days will come, when the 20 
 bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and 
 then shall they fast in those days. No man also 21 
 seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment : 
 else the new piece that filled it up taketh away 
 from the old, and the rent is made worse. And 22 
 no man putteth new wine into old bottles : else 
 the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine 
 is spilled, and the bottles will be marred : but new 
 wine must be put into new bottles. 
 Question And it came to pass, that he went through the 23 
 bath law?* corn fields on the sabbath day ; and his disciples 
 began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 
 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why 24 
 do they on the sabbath day that which is not 
 lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never 25 
 read what David did, when he had need, and was 
 an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 
 How he went into the house of God in the days 26 
 of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the 
 shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the 
 priests, and gave also to them which were with 
 him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was 27 
 made for man, and not man for the sabbath : 
 therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the 2S 
 Man with sabbath. 
 
 "withered i 
 
 hand. And he entered again into the synagogue ; and 3 
 
ST. MARK 57 
 
 there was a man there which had a withered hand. Chap. 3 
 2 And they watched him, whether he would heal 
 
 him on the sabbath day ; that they might accuse 
 S him. And he saith unto the man which had the 
 
 4 withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto 
 them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, 
 or to do evil ? to save life, or to kill ? But they 
 
 5 held their peace. And when he had looked round 
 about on them with anger, being grieved for the 
 hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, 
 Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it 
 out : and his hand was restored whole as the 
 
 6 other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straight- 
 way took counsel with the Herodians against him, 
 how they might destroy him. 
 
 7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples Extending 
 to the sea : and a great multitude from Galilee je™u S ° f 
 
 8 followed him, and from Judaea, and from Jerusalem, 
 and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan ; and 
 they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, 
 when they had heard what great things he did, 
 
 9 came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, 
 that a small ship should wait on him because of 
 
 io the multitude, lest they should throng him. For 
 he had healed many ; insomuch that they pressed 
 upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. 
 
 t r And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down 
 before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son 
 
 T2 of God. And he straitly charged them that they 
 should not make him known. 
 
 13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth Choice 
 unto him whom he would : and they came unto Twelve. 
 
 r.f him. And he ordained twelve, that they should 
 
53 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 3 be with him, and that he might send them forth 
 
 to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, 15 
 and to cast out devils : and Simon he surnamed 16 
 Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John 17 
 the brother of James ; and he surnamed them 
 Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: and 18 
 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, 
 and Thomas, and James the son of Alphreus, and 
 Thaddasus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas 19 
 Iscariot, which also betrayed him : and they went 
 into an house. 
 
 And the multitude cometh together again, so 20 
 that they could not so much as eat bread. And 21 
 when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay 
 hold on him : for they said, He is beside himself. 
 x\nd the scribes which came down from Jerusalem 22 
 said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the 
 devils casteth he out devils. And he called them 23 
 unto him, and said unto them in parables, How 
 can Satan cast out Satan ? And if a kingdom be 24 
 divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 
 And if a house be divided against itself, that house 25 
 cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, 26 
 and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 
 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and 27 
 spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong 
 man ; and then he will spoil his house. Verily 1 28 
 say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the 
 sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever 
 they shall blaspheme : but he that shall blaspheme 29 
 against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but 
 is in danger of eternal damnation : because they 30 
 said, He hath an unclean spirit. 
 
ST. MARK 59 
 
 31 There came then his brethren and his mother, Chap. 3 
 and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. Question 
 
 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said j*""; 
 unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren Jesus. 
 
 33 without seek for thee. And he answered them, 
 
 34 saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And 
 he looked round about on them which sat about 
 him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren ! 
 
 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same 
 is my brother, and my sister, and mother. 
 
 4 And he began again to teach by the sea side : |^ r le of 
 and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, 
 so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea ; 
 and the whole multitude was by the sea on the 
 
 2 land. And he taught them many things by parables, 
 
 3 and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; 
 
 4 Behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it 
 came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way 
 side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured 
 
 5 it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it 
 had not much earth ; and immediately it sprang 
 
 r> up, because it had no depth of earth : but when 
 the sun was up, it was scorched ; and because it 
 
 7 had no root, it withered away. And some fell 
 among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked 
 
 8 it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good 
 ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and 
 increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and 
 
 q some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said 
 unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him 
 hear. Explana- 
 
 10 And when he was alone, they that were about £° n a °^ e 
 him with the twelve asked of him the parable. ofSower. 
 
, 
 
 60 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 4 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to n 
 know the mystery of the kingdom of God : but 
 unto them that are without, all these things are 
 done in parables : that seeing they may see, and 1 2 
 not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and 
 not understand ; lest at any time they should be 
 converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 
 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? 13 
 and how then will ye know all parables? The 14 
 sower soweth the word. And these are they by 15 
 the way side, where the word is sown ; but when 
 they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and 
 taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 
 And these are they likewise which are sown on 16 
 stony ground; who, when they have heard the 
 word, immediately receive it with gladness ; and 1 7 
 have no root in themselves, and so endure but for 
 a time : afterward, when affliction or persecution 
 ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are 
 offended. And these are they which are sown 18 
 among thorns ; such as hear the word, and the 19 
 cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, 
 and the lusts of other things entering in, choke 
 the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these 20 
 are they which are sown on good ground ; such as 
 hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, 
 some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. 
 
 And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to 2 r 
 be put under a bushel, or under a bed ? and not 
 to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing 22 
 hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was 
 any thing kept secret, but that it should come 
 abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him 23 
 
ST. MARK 61 
 
 24 hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what chap. 4 
 ye hear : with what measure ye mete, it shall be 
 measured to you : and unto you that hear shall 
 
 25 more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be 
 given : and he that hath not, from him shall be 
 taken even that which he hath. 
 
 26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if Parable 
 
 27 a man should cast seed into the ground; and J ea r r ^g 
 should sleep, and rise night and day, and the earth, 
 seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not 
 
 28 how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; 
 first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
 
 29 in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, 
 immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the 
 harvest is come. 
 
 30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the Parable of 
 kingdom of God ? or with what comparison shall Jj|£J tard 
 
 3 1 we compare it ? It is like a grain of mustard seed, 
 which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than 
 
 32 all the seeds that be in the earth : but when it is 
 sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than 
 all herbs, and shooteth out great branches ; so 
 that the fowls of the air may lodge under the 
 shadow of it. 
 
 33 And with many such parables spake he the Use of 
 word unto them, as they were able to hear it. P arables * 
 
 34 But without a parable spake he not unto them : 
 and when they were alone, he expounded all 
 things to his disciples. 
 
 35 And the same day, when the even was come, stilling of 
 he ' aith unto them, Let us pass over unto the theTake? 
 
 36 other side. And when they had sent away the 
 1 "titude, they took him even as he was in 
 
62 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 4 the ship. And there were also with him other 
 
 little ships. And there arose a great storm of 37 
 wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it 
 was now full. And he was in the hinder part of 3S 
 the ship, asleep on a pillow : and they awake him, 
 and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we 
 perish ? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and 39 
 said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind 
 ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said 40 
 unto them, Why are ye so fearful ? how is it that 
 ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, 41 
 and said one to another, What manner of man is 
 this, that even the wind and the sea obey him ? 
 
 And they came over unto the other side of 5 
 the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And 2 
 when he was come out of the ship, immediately 
 there met him out of the tombs a man with an 
 unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the 3 
 tombs ; and no man could bind him, no, not with 
 chains : because that he had been often bound 4 
 with fetters and chains, and the chains had been 
 plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken 
 in pieces : neither could any man tame him. And 5 
 always, night and day, he was in the mountains, 
 and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with 
 stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran 6 
 and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, 7 
 and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou 
 Son of the most high God ? I adjure thee by God, 
 that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, s 
 Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And 9 
 he asked him, What is thy name ? And he answered, 
 saying, My name is Legion ; for we are many. 
 
ST. MARK 63 
 
 10 And he besought him much that he wuuld not chap. 5 
 n send them away out of the country. Now there 
 was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd 
 
 12 of swine feeding. And all the devils besought 
 him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may 
 
 13 enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them 
 leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and 
 entered into the swine : and the herd ran violently 
 down a steep place into the sea, (they were about 
 
 14 two thousand ;) and were choked in the sea. And 
 they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, 
 and in the country. And they went out to see 
 
 15 what it was that was done. And they come to 
 Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the 
 devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, 
 and in his right mind : and they were afraid. 
 
 16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to 
 him that was possessed with the devil, and also 
 
 17 concerning the swine. And they began to pray 
 iS him to depart out of their coasts. And when he 
 
 was come into the ship, he that had been possessed 
 with the devil prayed him that he might be with 
 
 19 him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith 
 unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them 
 how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and 
 
 20 hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, 
 and began to publish in Decapolis how great things 
 Jesus had done for him : and all men did marvel. 
 
 2 1 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship Appeal 
 unto the other side, much people gathered unto ° Jaxrus * 
 
 22 him : and he was nigh unto the sea. And, behold, 
 there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, 
 Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at 
 
64 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 5 his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My 23 
 little daughter lieth at the point of death : I pray 
 thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may 
 be healed ; and she shall live. And Jesus went 24 
 with him ; and much people followed him, and 
 thronged him. 
 Woman And a certain woman, which had an issue of 25 
 
 ofbiood" 6 bl°°d twelve years, and had suffered many things 26 
 of many physicians, and had spent all that she 
 had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew 
 worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the 27 
 press behind, and touched his garment. For she 28 
 said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be 
 whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood 29 
 was dried up; and she felt in her body that she 
 was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately 30 
 knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, 
 turned him about in the press, and said, Who 
 touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto 31 
 him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and 
 sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked 32 
 round about to see her that had done this thing. 
 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing 33 
 what was done in her, came and fell down before 
 him, and told him all the truth. And he said 34 
 unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee 
 whole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. 
 
 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler 35 
 of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy 
 daughter is dead : why troublest thou the Master 
 any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word 36 
 that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the 
 synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he 37 
 
ST. MARK 65 
 
 suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and Chap. 5 
 
 38 James, and John the brother of James. And he 
 cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, 
 and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and 
 
 39 wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he 
 saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and 
 weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 
 
 40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he 
 had put them all out, he taketh the father and 
 the mother of the damsel, and them that were 
 with him, and entereth in where the damsel was 
 
 41 lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, 
 and said unto her, l"alitha cumi ; which is, being 
 
 42 interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And 
 straightway the damsel arose, and walked ; for she 
 was of the age of twelve years. And they were 
 
 43 astonished with a great astonishment. And he 
 charged them straitly that no man should know 
 it ; and commanded that something should be 
 given her to eat. 
 
 6 And he went out from thence, and came into Rejection 
 his own country ; and his disciples follow him. country^" 
 
 2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began 
 to teach in the synagogue : and many hearing 
 him were astonished, saying, From whence hath 
 this man these things? and what wisdom is this 
 which is given unto him, that even such mighty 
 
 3 works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the 
 carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, 
 and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon ? and are not 
 his sisters here with us ? And they were offended 
 
 4 at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is 
 not without honour, but in his own country, and 
 
 F 
 
66 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap, e among his own kin, and in his own house. And 5 
 he could there do no mighty work, save that he 
 laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed 
 them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. 6 
 And he went round about the villages, teaching. 
 
 And he called unto him the twelve, and began 7 
 to send them forth by two and two; and gave 
 them power over unclean spirits ; and commanded 8 
 them that they should take nothing for their 
 journey, save a staff only ; no scrip, no bread, no 
 money in their purse : but be shod with sandals ; 9 
 and not put on two coats. And he said unto 10 
 them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, 
 there abide till ye depart from that place. And 11 
 whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, 
 when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under 
 your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I 
 say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom 
 and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for 
 that city. And they went out, and preached that 12 
 men should repent. And they cast out many 13 
 devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, 
 and healed them. 
 Herod and And king Herod heard of him ; (for his name 14 
 onhe Urder was s P rea d abroad :) and he said, That John the 
 Baptist. Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore 
 mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 
 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, 15 
 That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 
 But when Herod heard thereof he said, It is John, 16 
 whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 
 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold 17 
 upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias 7 
 
ST. MARK 67 
 
 sake, his brother Philip's wife : for he had married Chap, e 
 iS her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not 
 
 19 lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. There- 
 fore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and 
 
 20 would have killed him ; but she could not : for 
 Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just 
 man and an holy, and observed him ; and when 
 he heard him, he did many things, and heard 
 
 21 him gladly. And when a convenient day was 
 come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper 
 to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of 
 
 22 Galilee; and when the daughter of the said 
 Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased 
 Herod and them that sat with him, the king said 
 unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, 
 
 23 and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, 
 Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it 
 
 24 thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she 
 went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall 
 I ask? And she said, The head of John the 
 
 25 Baptist And she came in straightway with haste 
 unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou 
 give me by and by in a charger the head of John 
 
 26 the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry ; 
 yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which 
 
 27 sat with him, he would not reject her. And 
 immediately the king sent an executioner, and 
 commanded his head to be brought : and he went 
 
 28 and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his 
 head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel : 
 
 29 and the damsel gave it to her mother. And 
 when his disciples heard of it, they came and 
 took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. 
 
 f 2 
 
68 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap, e And the apostles gathered themselves together 30 
 Feeding of unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what 
 the 5,000. they had done, and what they had taught. And 31 
 he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart 
 into a desert place, and rest a while : for there 
 were many coming and going, and they had no 
 leisure so much as to eat. And they departed 32 
 into a desert place by ship privately. And the 33 
 people saw them departing, and many knew him, 
 and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent 
 them, and came together unto him. And Jesus, 34 
 when he came out, saw much people, and was 
 moved with compassion toward them, because 
 they were as sheep not having a shepherd : and 
 he began to teach them many things. And when 35 
 the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto 
 him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the 
 time is far passed : send them away, that they 36 
 may go into the country round about, and into 
 the villages, and buy themselves bread : for they 
 have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto 37 
 them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto 
 him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth 
 of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto 38 
 them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. 
 And when they knew, they say, Five, and two 
 fishes. And he commanded them to make all 39 
 sit down by companies upon the green grass. 
 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and 40 
 by fifties. And when he had taken the five 41 
 loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, 
 and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them 
 to his disciples to set before them ; and the two 
 
ST. MARK 69 
 
 42 fishes divided he among them all. A \nd they Chap. 6 
 
 43 did all eat, and were filled. And they took up 
 twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the 
 
 44 fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were 
 about five thousand men. 
 
 45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to Walking 
 get into the ship, and to go to the other side on esea * 
 before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the 
 
 46 people. And when he had sent them away, he 
 
 47 departed into a mountain to pray. And when 
 even was come, the ship was in the midst of the 
 
 48 sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them 
 toiling in rowing ; for the wind was contrary unto 
 them : and about the fourth watch of the night 
 he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and 
 
 49 would have passed by them. But when they 
 saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed 
 
 50 it had been a spirit, and cried out : for they all 
 saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he 
 talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of 
 
 51 good cheer : it is I ; be not afraid. And he went 
 up unto them into the ship ; and the wind ceased : 
 and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond 
 
 52 measure, and wondered. For they considered not 
 the miracle of the loaves : for their heart was 
 hardened. 
 
 53 And when they had passed over, they came works of 
 into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the Genne- 
 
 54 shore. And when they were come out of the ship, saret - 
 
 55 straightway they knew him, and ran through that 
 whole region round about, and began to carry 
 about in beds those that were sick, where they 
 
 56 heard he was. And whithersoever he entered. 
 
7o ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 6 into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the 
 sick in the streets, and besought him that they 
 might touch if it were but the border of his 
 garment : and as many as touched him were 
 made whole. 
 
 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, 7 
 and certain of the scribes, which came from 
 Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his 2 
 disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, 
 with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For 3 
 the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash 
 their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of 
 the elders. And when they come from the market, 4 
 except they wash, they eat not. And many other 
 things there be, which they have received to hold, 
 as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, 
 and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes 5 
 asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according 
 to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with 
 unwashen hands? He answered and said unto 6 
 them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you 
 hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth 
 me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching 7 
 for doctrines the commandments of men. For 8 
 laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold 
 the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and 
 cups : and many other such like things ye do. 
 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the 9 
 commandment of God, that ye may keep your 
 own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy 10 
 father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth 
 father or mother, let him die the death : but ye 1 1 
 
ST. MARK 71 
 
 say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, chap. 7 
 It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever 
 thou mightest be profited by me ; he shall be free. 
 
 12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his 
 
 13 father or his mother; making the word of God 
 of none effect through your tradition, which 
 ye have delivered : and many such like things 
 
 14 do ye. And when he had called all the people 
 unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me 
 
 15 every one of you, and understand: there is nothing 
 from without a man, that entering into him can 
 defile him : but the things which come out of 
 
 16 him, those are they that defile the man. If any 
 
 17 man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when 
 he was entered into the house from the people, 
 his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 
 
 18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without 
 understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that 
 whatsoever thing from without entereth into the 
 
 19 man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth 
 not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth 
 
 20 out into the draught, purging all meats? And 
 he said, That which cometh out of the man, that 
 
 21 defileth the man. For from within, out of the 
 heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, 
 
 22 fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wicked- 
 ness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, 
 
 23 pride, foolishness : all these evil things come from 
 within, and defile the man. 
 
 24 And from thence he arose, and went into the syro- 
 borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an ^f 
 house, and would have no man know it : but he daughter. 
 
 25 could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose 
 
72 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 7 young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of 
 
 him, and came and fell at his feet : the woman 26 
 was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation ; and she 
 besought him that he would cast forth the devil 
 out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, 27 
 Let the children first be filled : for it is not meet 
 to take the children's bread, and to cast // unto 
 the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, 28 
 Yes, Lord : yet the dogs under the table eat of 
 the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, 2<j 
 For this saying go thy way ; the devil is gone out 
 of thy daughter. And when she was come to 3 > 
 her house, she found the devil gone out, and her 
 daughter laid upon the bed. 
 Healing And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre 31 
 
 and ea and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, 
 dumbman. through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 
 
 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and 32 
 had an impediment in his speech ; and they 
 beseech him to put his hand upon him. And 33 
 he took him aside from the multitude, and put 
 his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched 
 his tongue ; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, 34 
 and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 
 And straightway his ears were opened, and the 35 
 string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake 
 plain. And he charged them that they should 36 
 tell no man : but the more he charged them, so 
 much the more a great deal they published it; 
 and were beyond measure astonished, saying, He 37 
 hath done all things well : he maketh both the 
 Feeding deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. 
 4,000. In those days the multitude being very great, 8 
 
ST. MARK 73 
 
 and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples Chap. 8 
 
 2 unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion 
 on the multitude, because they have now been 
 with me three days, and have nothing to eat : 
 
 3 and if I send them away fasting to their own 
 houses, they will faint by the way : for divers 
 
 4 of them came from far. And his disciples answered 
 him, From whence can a man satisfy these men 
 
 5 with bread here in the wilderness ? And he asked 
 them, How many loaves have ye ? And they said, 
 
 6 Seven. And he commanded the people to sit 
 down on the ground : and he took the seven 
 loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to 
 his disciples to set before them ; and they did 
 
 7 set them before the people. And they had a few 
 small fishes : and he blessed, and commanded to 
 
 8 set them also before them. So they did eat, and 
 were filled : and they took up of the broken meat 
 
 9 that was left seven baskets. And they that had 
 eaten were about four thousand : and he sent 
 
 io them away. And straightway he entered into 
 a ship with his disciples, and came into the 
 parts of Dalmanutha. 
 
 1 1 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to Question 
 question with him, seeking of him a sign from ° SIgns - 
 
 i2 heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply 
 in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation 
 seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There 
 
 13 shall no sign be given unto this generation. And 
 he left them, and entering into the ship again 
 departed to the other side. 
 
 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, The evil 
 neither had they in the ship with them more than caven * 
 
74 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 8 one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take 15 
 heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and 
 of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned 16 
 among themselves, saying, It is because we have 
 no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith 17 
 unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no 
 bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? 
 have ye your heart yet hardened? having eyes, 18 
 see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and 
 do ye not remember? When I brake the five 19 
 loaves among five thousand, how many baskets 
 full of fragments took ye up ? They say unto him, 
 Twelve. And when the seven among four thou- 20 
 sand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye 
 up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto 21 
 them, How is it that ye do not understand ? 
 Healing of And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring 22 
 atBetb. 811 a blind man unto mm » anc * besought him to touch 
 saida. him. And he took the blind man by the hand, 23 
 and led him out of the town ; and when he had 
 spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he 
 asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, 24 
 and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that 25 
 he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made 
 him look up : and he was restored, and saw every 
 man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, 26 
 saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any 
 in the town. 
 Peter's And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the 27 
 
 sion. eS towns of Csesarea Philippi : and by the way he 
 asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do 
 men say that I am ? And they answered, John 28 
 the Baptist : but some say, Elias ; and others, 
 
ST. MARK 75 
 
 29 One of the prophets. And he saith unto them, Chap. 8 
 But whom say ye that I am ? And Peter answereth 
 
 30 and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he 
 charged them that they should tell no man of him. 
 
 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of Jesus 
 man must suffer many things, and be rejected of ^H Jeath 
 the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and 5 n £ re " 
 
 32 be killed, and after three days rise again. And Peter, 
 he spake that saying openly. And Peter took 
 
 33 him, and began to rebuke him. But when he 
 had turned about and looked on his disciples, 
 he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, 
 Satan : for thou savourest not the things that be 
 
 34 of God, but the things that be of men. And 
 when he had called the people unto him with his 
 disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will 
 come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
 
 35 his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save 
 his life shall lose it ; but whosoever shall lose his 
 life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall 
 
 36 save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he 
 shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
 
 37 soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for 
 3S his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed 
 
 of me and of my words in this adulterous and 
 sinful generation ; of him also shall the Son of 
 man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory 
 
 9 of his Father with the holy angels. And he said 
 unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be 
 some of them that stand here, which shall not 
 taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom 
 of God come with power. 
 
 2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, figurafion. 
 
7 6 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 9 and James, and John, and leadeth them up into 
 
 an high mountain apart by themselves: and he 
 
 was transfigured before them. And his raiment 3 
 became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as 
 no fuller on earth can white them. And there 4 
 appeared unto them Elias with Moses : and they 
 were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and 5 
 said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be 
 here: and let us make three tabernacles; one 
 for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 
 For he wist not what to say ; for they were sore 6 
 afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed 7 
 them : and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 
 This is my beloved Son : hear him. And suddenly, 8 
 when they had looked round about, they saw no 
 man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. 
 Questions And as they came down from the mountain, he 9 
 regarding cn ars:ed them that they should tell no man what 
 
 the rcsiir*' 
 
 rection. things they had seen, till the Son of man were 
 
 risen from the dead. And they kept that saying 10 
 with themselves, questioning one with another 
 what the rising from the dead should mean. And 11 
 they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that 
 Elias must first come ? And he answered and told 1 2 
 them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all 
 things ; and how it is written of the Son of man, 
 that he must suffer many things, and be set at 
 nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed 13 
 come, and they have done unto him whatsoever 
 they listed, as it is written of him. 
 Healing And when he came to his disciples, he saw a 14 
 
 demoniac great multitude about them, and the scribes 
 boy. questioning with them. And straightway all the 15 
 
ST. MARK 77 
 
 people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, Chap. 9 
 
 16 and running to him saluted him. And he asked 
 
 17 the scribes, What question ye with them? And 
 one of the multitude answered and said, Master, 
 I have brought unto thee my son, which hath 
 
 iS a dumb spirit; and wheresoever he taketh him, 
 he teareth him : and he foameth, and gnasheth 
 with his teeth, and pineth away : and I spake 
 to thy disciples that they should cast him out; 
 
 19 and they could not. He answereth him, and 
 saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I 
 be with you ? how long shall I suffer you ? bring 
 
 20 him unto me. And they brought him unto him : 
 and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare 
 him ; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed 
 
 21 foaming. And he asked his father, How long The 
 
 is it ago since this came unto him ? And he said, appeal. 
 
 22 Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into 
 the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him : but if 
 thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, 
 
 23 and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst 
 believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 
 
 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, 
 and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou 
 
 25 mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people 
 came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, 
 saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I 
 charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more 
 
 26 into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, 
 and came out of him : and he was as one dead ; 
 
 27 insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus 
 took him by the hand, and lifted him up ; and 
 
 28 he arose. And when he was come into the house, 
 
78 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 9 his disciples asked him privately, Why could not 
 
 we cast him out? And he said unto them, This 29 
 kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and 
 fasting. 
 Further And they departed thence, and passed through 30 
 
 ment of" Galilee ; and he would not that any man should 
 his death k n0 w it. For he taught his disciples, and said 31 
 rection. unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the 
 hands of men, and they shall kill him ; and after 
 that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But 32 
 they understood not that saying, and were afraid 
 to ask him. 
 Rebuke of And he came to Capernaum : and being in the 33 
 tionof the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed 
 disciples. am ong yourselves by the way ? But they held their 34 
 peace : for by the way they had disputed among 
 themselves, who should be the greatest. And he 35 
 sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto 
 them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall 
 be last of all, and servant of all. And he took 36 
 a child, and set him in the midst of them : and 
 when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto 
 them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children 37 
 in my name, receiveth me : and whosoever shall 
 receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. 
 Questions And John answered him, saying, Master, we 38 
 ship 1 and 6 saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he 
 offences. f n owe th not us : and we forbad him, because 
 
 he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him 39 
 not : for there is no man which shall do a miracle 
 in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For 40 
 he that is not against us is on our part. For whoso- 41 
 ever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my 
 
ST. MARK 79 
 
 name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say Chap. 9 
 
 42 unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And 
 whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that 
 believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone 
 were hanged about his neck, and he were cast 
 
 43 into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut 
 it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, 
 than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire 
 
 44 that never shall be quenched : where their worm 
 
 45 dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if 
 thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee 
 to enter halt into life, than having two feet to 
 be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be 
 
 46 quenched : where their worm dieth not, and the 
 
 47 fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend 
 thee, pluck it out : it is better for thee to enter 
 into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having 
 
 48 two eyes to be cast into hell fire : where their 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 
 
 49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every 
 
 50 sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good : 
 but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith 
 will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and 
 have peace one with another. 
 
 10 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the Questions 
 coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan : and r i age and 
 the people resort unto him again ; and, as he was dlvorce - 
 
 2 wont, he taught them again. And the Pharisees 
 came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a 
 
 5 man to put away his wife ? tempting him. And he 
 answered and said unto them, What did Moses 
 
 4 command you? And they said, Moses suffered 
 to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 
 
So 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 10 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the 5 
 hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 
 But from the beginning of the creation God made 6 
 them male and female. For this cause shall a man 7 
 leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife ; 
 and they twain shall be one flesh: so then they 8 
 are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore 9 
 God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 
 And in the house his disciples asked him again of 10 
 the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whoso- 11 
 ever shall put away his wife, and marry another, 
 committeth adultery against her. And if a woman 12 
 shall put away her husband, and be married to 
 another, she committeth adultery. 
 
 And they brought young children to him, that 13 
 he should touch them : and his disciples rebuked 
 those that brought them. But when Jesus saw //, 14 
 he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer 
 the little children to come unto me, and forbid them 
 not : for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily 1 5 
 I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the 
 kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter 
 therein. And he took them up in his arms, put 16 
 his hands upon them, and blessed them. 
 
 And when he was gone forth into the way, there 17 
 came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked 
 him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may 
 inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, 18 
 Why callest thou me good? there is none good 
 but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the com- 19 
 mandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, 
 Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud 
 not, Honour thy father and mother. And he 20 
 
ST. MARK 8 1 
 
 answered and said unto him, Master, all these Chap. 10 
 
 21 have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus 
 beholding him loved him, and said unto him, 
 One thing thou lackest : go thy way, sell what- 
 soever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou 
 shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, take 
 
 22 up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad 
 at that saying, and went away grieved: for he 
 had great possessions. 
 
 2i And Tesus looked round about, and saith unto Law of 
 ° J . , entrance 
 
 his disciples, How hardly shall they that have into the 
 
 24 riches enter into the kingdom of God ! And the kingdom, 
 disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus 
 answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, 
 
 how hard is it for them that trust in riches to 
 
 25 enter into the kingdom of God ! It is easier for 
 a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
 for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying 
 
 27 among themselves, Who then can be saved? And 
 Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is 
 impossible, but not with God: for with God all 
 
 28 things are possible. Then Peter began to say 
 unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed 
 
 19 thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I 
 say unto you, There is no man that hath left 
 house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
 or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the 
 
 30 gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now 
 in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and 
 mothers, and children, and lands, with persecu- 
 
 31 tions ; and in the world to come eternal life. But 
 many that are first shall be last ; and the last first. 
 
 G 
 
82 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 10 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem ; 32 
 Announce- an( ^ J esus went before them: and they were amazed; 
 mentof and as they followed, they were afraid. And he 
 resnrrec- took again the twelve, and began to tell them 
 tion. what things should happen unto him, saying, 33 
 
 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ; and the Son 
 of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, 
 and unto the scribes ; and they shall condemn 
 him to death, and shall deliver him to the 
 Gentiles : and they shall mock him, and shall 34 
 scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall 
 kill him : and the third day he shall rise again. 
 Rebuke of And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 35 
 Zebedee. come unto him, saying, Master, we would that 
 thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall 
 desire. And he said unto them, AVhat would 36 
 ye that I should do for you? They said unto 37 
 him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy 
 right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in 
 thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know 38 
 not what ye ask : can ye drink of the cup that 
 I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism 
 that I am baptized with ? And they said unto 39 
 him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye 
 shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; 
 and with the baptism that I am baptized withal 
 shall ye be baptized : but to sit on my right 40 
 hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; 
 but it shall be given to them for whom it is 
 prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began 41 
 to be much displeased with James and John. 
 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto 42 
 them, Ye know that they which are accounted 
 
ST. MARK 83 
 
 to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over Chap. 10 
 them ; and their great ones exercise authority 
 
 43 upon them. But so shall it not be among you : 
 but whosoever will be great among you, shall 
 
 44 be your minister : and whosoever of you will be 
 
 45 the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even 
 the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
 but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for 
 many. 
 
 46 And they came to Jericho : and as he went Blind 
 out of Jericho with his disciples and a great m ^us 
 number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of madeto 
 
 47 Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And 
 when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he 
 began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of 
 
 4S David, have mercy on me. And many charged 
 him that he should hold his peace : but he cried 
 the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have 
 
 49 mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and com- 
 manded him to be called. And they call the 
 blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, 
 
 50 rise ; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his 
 
 51 garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus 
 answered and said unto him, What wilt thou 
 that I should do unto thee? The blind man 
 said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my 
 
 52 sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way ; 
 thy faith hath made thee whole. And imme- 
 diately he received his sight, and followed Jesus 
 in the way. 
 
 11 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Triumphal 
 Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, j"s U s°nto 
 
 2 he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 11 unto them, Go your way into the village over 
 against you : and as soon as ye be entered into it, 
 ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; 
 loose him, and bring him. And if any man say 3 
 unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord 
 hath need of him ; and straightway he will send 
 him hither. And they went their way, and found 4 
 the colt tied by the door without in a place where 
 two ways met ; and they loose him. And certain 5 
 of them that stood there said unto them, What do 
 ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them 6 
 even as Jesus had commanded : and they let them 
 go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast 7 
 their garments on him ; and he sat upon him. 
 And many spread their garments in the way : and 8 
 others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed 
 them in the way. And they that went before, and 9 
 they that followed, cried, saying, Husanna; Blessed 
 is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : 
 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that 10 
 cometh in the name of the Lord : Hosanna in the 
 highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and n 
 into the temple : and when he had looked round 
 about upon all things, and now the eventide was 
 come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. 
 
 And on the morrow, when they were come 12 
 from Bethany, he was hungry : and seeing a fig 13 
 tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he 
 might find any thing thereon : and when he came 
 to it, he found nothing but leaves ; for the time 
 of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said 14 
 unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for 
 ever. And his disciples heard //. 
 
ST. MARK 85 
 
 15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went Chap. 11 
 into the temple, and began to cast out them that cleansing 
 sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the jjjj}^ 
 tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of 
 
 16 them that sold doves; and would not suffer that 
 any man should carry any vessel through the 
 
 17 temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it 
 not written, My house shall be called of all nations 
 the house of prayer ? but ye have made it a den 
 
 18 of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard 
 it, and sought how they might destroy him : for 
 they feared him, because all the people was 
 
 19 astonished at his doctrine. And when even was 
 come, he went out of the city. 
 
 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they Counsels 
 
 ■, • t r .1 L a j on faith, 
 
 21 saw the rig tree dried up from the roots. And prayer, 
 
 Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, and for- 
 
 c5 givencss. 
 
 Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst 
 
 22 is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto 
 
 23 them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto 
 you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 
 Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea ; 
 and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe 
 that those things which he saith shall come to 
 
 24 pass ; he shall have whatsoever he saith. There- 
 fore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, 
 when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and 
 
 25 ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, 
 forgive, if ye have ought against any : that your 
 Father also which is in heaven may forgive you 
 
 26 your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither 
 will your Father which is in heaven forgive your 
 trespasses. 
 
86 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 11 And they come again to Jerusalem : and as he 27 
 Questions was walking in the temple, there come to him the 
 
 chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and 28 
 say unto him, By what authority doest thou these 
 things? and who gave thee this authority to do 
 these things? And Jesus answered and said unto 29 
 them, I will also ask of you one question, and 
 answer me, and I will tell you by what authority 
 I do these things. The baptism of John, was it 30 
 from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they 31 
 reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, 
 From heaven ; he will say, Why then did ye not 
 believe him ? But if we shall say, Of men ; they 32 
 feared the people : for all men counted John, that 
 he was a prophet indeed. And they answered 33 
 and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus 
 answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you 
 by what authority I do these things. 
 
 And he began to speak unto them by parables. 12 
 A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an 
 hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, 
 and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, 
 and went into a far country. And at the season 2 
 he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he 
 might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit 
 of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat 3 
 him, and sent him away empty. And again he 4 
 sent unto them another servant ; and at him they 
 cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and 
 sent him away shamefully handled. And again 5 
 he sent another ; and him they killed, and many 
 others ; beating some, and killing some. Having 6 
 yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him 
 
ST. MARK 87 
 
 also last unto them, saying, They will reverence Chap. 12 
 
 7 my son. But those husbandmen said among 
 themselves, This is the heir ; come, let us kill 
 
 8 him, and the inheritance shall be our's. And 
 they took him, and killed him, and cast him out 
 
 9 of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord 
 of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy 
 the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto 
 
 10 others. And have ye not read this scripture ; The 
 stone which the builders rejected is become the 
 
 1 1 head of the corner : this was the Lord's doing, 
 
 12 and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought 
 to lay hold on him, but feared the people : for 
 they knew that he had spoken the parable against 
 them : and they left him, and went their way. 
 
 13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees Questions 
 and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. u e ' 
 
 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, 
 Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for 
 no man : for thou regardest not the person of men, 
 but teachest the way of God in truth : Is it lawful 
 
 15 to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, 
 or shall we not give? But he, knowing their 
 hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? 
 
 16 bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they 
 brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this 
 image and superscription ? And they said unto 
 
 17 him, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them, 
 Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, 
 and to God the things that are God's. And they 
 marvelled at him. 
 
 18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say Questions 
 
 there is no resurrection ; and they asked him, resurrec- 
 tion. 
 
88 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 12 saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's 19 
 
 brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and 
 
 leave no children, that his brother should take his 
 
 wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now 20 
 
 there were seven brethren : and the first took 
 
 a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second 21 
 
 took her, and died, neither left he any seed : and 
 
 the third likewise. And the seven had her, and left 22 
 
 no seed : last of all the woman died also. In the 23 
 
 resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose 
 
 wife shall she be of them ? for the seven had her 
 
 to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, Do 24 
 
 ye not therefore err, because ye know not the 
 
 scriptures, neither the power of God? For when 25 
 
 they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, 
 
 nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels 
 
 which are in heaven. And as touching the dead, that 26 
 
 they rise : have ye not read in the book of Moses, 
 
 how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am 
 
 the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 
 God of Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead, but 27 
 
 the God of the living : ye therefore do greatly err. 
 
 And one of the scribes came, and having heard 28 
 
 them reasoning together, and perceiving that he 
 
 command- ^ ac j answered them well, asked him, Which is the 
 ment. ' ' 
 
 first commandment of all ? And Jesus answered 29 
 
 him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, 
 O Israel ; The Lord our God is one Lord : and 30 
 thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, 
 and with all thy strength : this is the first command- 
 ment. And the second is like, namely tin's, Thou 31 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none 
 
ST. MARK 89 
 
 32 other commandment greater than these. And the Chap. 12 
 scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said 
 
 the truth : for there is one God ; and there is none 
 
 33 other but he : and to love him with all the heart, 
 and with all the understanding, and with all the 
 soul, and with all the strength, and to love his 
 neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt 
 
 34 offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that 
 he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art 
 not far from the kingdom of God. And no man 
 after that durst ask him any questto?i. 
 
 35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught Question 
 in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is iJgDa" 
 
 36 the Son of David? For David himself said by the vid'sSon. 
 Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou 
 
 on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy 
 
 37 footstool. David therefore himself calleth him 
 Lord ; and whence is he then his son ? And the 
 common people heard him gladly. 
 
 38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware Warning 
 of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, the 
 
 39 and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the scn e! 
 chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost 
 
 40 rooms at feasts : which devour widows' houses, 
 and for a pretence make long prayers : these shall 
 receive greater damnation. 
 
 41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and The 
 beheld how the people cast money into the treasury : offering. 
 
 42 and many that were rich cast in much. And there 
 came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two 
 
 43 mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto 
 him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say 
 unto you, That this poor widow hath rast more in, 
 
9 o ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 12 than all they which have cast into the treasury : 
 
 for all they did cast in of their abundance; but 44 
 
 she of her want did cast in all that she had, even 
 all her living. 
 Destruc- And as he went out of the temple, one of his 13 
 of Si disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner 
 
 temple of stones and what buildings are here I And Jesus 2 
 answering said unto him, Seest thou these great 
 buildings ? there shall not be left one stone upon 
 another, that shall not be thrown down. 
 Announce- And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over 3 
 ment of against the temple, Peter and Tames and John and 
 
 beginnings ° L ' J J 
 
 of travail. Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall 4 
 these things be ? and what shall be the sign when 
 all these things shall be fulfilled? And Jesus answer- 5 
 ing them began to say, Take heed lest any man 
 deceive you : for many shall come in my name, 6 
 saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many. 
 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of 7 
 wars, be ye not troubled : for such things must 
 needs be ; but the end shall not be yet. For 8 
 nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
 against kingdom : and there shall be earthquakes 
 in divers places, and there shall be famines and 
 troubles : these are the beginnings of sorrows. 
 Announce- But take heed to yourselves : for they shall 9 
 m *rsecu- deliver you up to councils ; and in the synagogues 
 tions. ye shall be beaten : and ye shall be brought before 
 rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony 
 against them. And the gospel must first be pub- 10 
 lished among all nations. But when they shall 11 
 lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought 
 beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye 
 
ST. MARK 91 
 
 premeditate : but whatsoever shall be given you Chap. 13 
 in that hour, that speak ye : for it is not ye that 
 
 12 speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother 
 shall betray the brother to death, and the father 
 the son ; and children shall rise up against their 
 parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 
 
 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's 
 sake : but he that shall endure unto the end, the 
 same shall be saved. 
 
 14 But when ye shall see the abomination of Days of 
 desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, su enng; • 
 standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth 
 understand,) then let them that be in Judsea flee 
 
 15 to the mountains : and let him that is on the 
 housetop not go down into the house, neither 
 enter the7-ein, to take any thing out of his house : 
 
 16 and let him that is in the field not turn back 
 
 17 again for to take up his garment. But woe to 
 them that are with child, and to them that give 
 
 18 suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight 
 
 19 be not in the winter. For in those days shall 
 be affliction, such as was not from the beginning 
 of the creation which God created unto this time, 
 
 20 neither shall be. And except that the Lord had 
 shortened those days, no flesh should be saved : 
 but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, 
 
 2i he hath shortened the days. And then if any 
 man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ ; or, 
 
 22 lo, he is there; believe him not: for false Christs 
 and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs 
 and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even 
 
 23 the elect. But take ye heed : behold, I have 
 foretold you all things. 
 
92 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 13 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun 24 
 Coming of shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give 
 the Son of her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and 25 
 
 man. ° ' ' ^ 
 
 the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 
 And then shall they see the Son of man coming 26 
 in the clouds with great power and glory. And 27 
 then shall he send his angels, and shall gather 
 together his elect from the four winds, from the 
 uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part 
 of heaven. 
 
 Now learn a parable of the fig tree ; When her 28 
 branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye 
 know that summer is near : so ye in like manner, 29 
 when ye shall see these things come to pass, know 
 that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say 30 
 unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till 
 all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall 31 
 pass away : but my words shall not pass away. 
 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, 32 
 no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither 
 the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch 33 
 and pray : for ye know not when the time is. For 34 
 the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who 
 left his house, and gave authority to his servants, 
 and to every man his work, and commanded the 
 porter to watch. Watch ye therefore : for ye 35 
 know not when the master of the house cometh, 
 at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, 
 or in the morning : lest coming suddenly he find 36 
 you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say 37 
 unto all, Watch. 
 
 After two days was the feast of the passover, 14 
 and of unleavened bread : and the chief priests 
 
ST. MARK 93 
 
 and the scribes sought how they might take him by Chap. 14 
 
 2 cra f t. and put him to death. But they said, Not on and ^ "" 
 th fi ast day, lest there be an uproar of the people, scribes. 
 
 3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon The 
 
 the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman fi?Iimon% 
 ing an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard house « 
 y precious j and she brake the box, and poured 
 on his head. And there were some that had 
 indignation within themselves, and said, Why was 
 5 this waste of the ointment made ? for it might 
 have been sold for more than three hundred 
 nice, and have been given to the poor. And 
 ley murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let 
 »ier alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought 
 » a good work on me. For ye have the poor with 
 you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do 
 hem good : but me ye have not always. She hath 
 done what she could : she is come aforehand to 
 •» anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto 
 you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached 
 throughout the whole world, this also that she hath 
 done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. 
 o And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto Treachery 
 i the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And ° Ju as " 
 when they heard it, they were glad, and promised 
 to give him money. And he sought how he might 
 conveniently betray him. 
 u And the first day of unleavened bread, when Prepara- 
 they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, theVass- 
 Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou over - 
 13 mayest eat the passover? And he sendeth forth 
 two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye 
 into the city, and there shall meet you a man 
 
94 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 14 bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And 14 
 wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodraan 
 of the house, The Master saith, Where is the 
 guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover 
 with my disciples? And he will shew you a large 15 
 upper room furnished and prepared : there make 
 ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and 16 
 came into the city, and found as he had said unto 
 them : and they made ready the passover. 
 indication And in the evening he cometh with the twelve, i-/ 
 traitor. 2 ^ n ^ as tnev sat an d did eat 5 Jesus said, Verily I say 18 
 unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall 
 betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and 19 
 to say unto him one by one, Is it I ? and another 
 said, Is it I ? And he answered and said unto them, 20 
 It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in 
 the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is 2 1 
 written of him : but woe to that man by whom tht 
 Son of man is betrayed ! good were it for that man 
 if he had never been born. 
 The Lord's And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and 
 upper. blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, 
 
 Take, eat : this is my body. And he took the cup, 1 3 
 and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them : 
 and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, 24 
 This is my blood of the new testament, which is 
 shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will 35 
 drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that 
 day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 
 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out 26 
 into the mount of Olives. 
 Prediction And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offend- 27 
 fall. e d because of me this night : for it is written, I will 
 
ST. MARK 95 
 
 smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, chap. 11 
 
 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into 
 
 29 Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all 
 
 30 shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith 
 unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, 
 even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou 
 
 31 shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more 
 vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not 
 deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. 
 
 32 And they came to a place which was named The agony 
 Gethsemane : and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye ^ m | ne , 
 
 33 here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him 
 Peter and James and John, and began to be sore 
 
 34 amazed, and to be very heavy ; and saith unto 
 them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death : 
 
 35 tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a 
 little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it 
 
 36 were possible, the hour might pass from him. And 
 he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto 
 thee ; take away this cup from me : nevertheless 
 
 37 not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he 
 cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto 
 Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou 
 
 38 watch one hour ? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter 
 into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the 
 
 39 flesh is weak. And again he went away, and 
 
 40 prayed, and spake the same words. And when 
 he returned, he found them asleep again, (for 
 their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what 
 
 41 to answer him. And he cometh the third time, 
 and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your 
 rest : it is enough, the hour is come ; behold, the 
 Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
 
9 6 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 14 
 
 The 
 
 betrayal 
 and arrest. 
 
 Incident 
 of the 
 young 
 man. 
 
 Jesus 
 before the 
 Jewish 
 Council. 
 
 Rise up, let us go ; lo, he that betrayeth me is at 42 
 hand. 
 
 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh 43 
 Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great 
 multitude with swords and staves, from the chief 
 priests and the scribes and the elders. And he 44 
 that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, 
 Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take 
 him, and lead him away safely. And as soon as 45 
 he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and 
 saith, Master, master ; and kissed him. And they 46 
 laid their hands on him, and took him. And one 47 
 of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a 
 servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 
 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye 48 
 come out, as against a thief, with swords and with 
 staves to take me? I was daily with you in the 49 
 temple teaching, and ye took me not : but the 
 scriptures must be fulfilled. And they all forsook 50 
 him, and fled. 
 
 And there followed him a certain young man, 51 
 having a linen cloth cast about his naked body ; 
 and the young men laid hold on him : and he left 52 
 the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. 
 
 And they led Jesus away to the high priest : and 53 
 with him were assembled all the chief priests and 
 the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed 54 
 him afar off, even into the palace of the high 
 priest : and he sat with the servants, and warmed 
 himself at the fire. And the chief priests and all 55 
 the council sought for witness against Jesus to put 
 him to death ; and found none. For many bare 56 
 false witness against him, but their witness agreed 
 
ST. MARK 97 
 
 57 not together. And there arose certain, and bare Chap. 14 
 
 58 false witness against him, saying, We heard him 
 say, I will destroy this temple that is made with 
 hands, and within three days I will build another 
 
 59 made without hands. But neither so did their 
 
 60 witness agree together. And the high priest stood 
 up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest 
 thou nothing? what is itzvhich these witness against 
 
 61 thee ? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. 
 Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, 
 
 62 Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And 
 Jesus said, I am : and ye shall see the Son of man 
 sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in 
 
 63 the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent 
 his clothes, and saith, What need we any further 
 
 64 witnesses ? Ye have heard the blasphemy : what 
 think ye? And they all condemned him to be 
 
 65 guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, 
 and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to 
 say unto him, Prophesy : and the servants did 
 strike him with the palms of their hands. 
 
 66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there Peter's 
 
 67 cometh one of the maids of the high priest : and ema s * 
 when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked 
 
 upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus 
 
 68 of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, 
 neither understand I what thou sayest. And he 
 
 69 went out into the porch ; and the cock crew. And 
 a maid saw him again, and began to say to them 
 
 70 that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied 
 it again. And a little after, they that stood by 
 said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them : 
 for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth 
 
 H 
 
98 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 14 thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, 71 
 sayings I know not this man of whom ye speak. 
 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter 72 
 called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, 
 Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me 
 thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. 
 Jesus And straightway in the morning the chief priests 15 
 
 Pilate 6 hdcl a consultation with the elders and scribes and 
 the w r hole council, and bound Jesus, and carried 
 him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate 2 
 asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews ? And 
 he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. And 3 
 the chief priests accused him of many things : but 
 he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, 4 
 saying, Answerest thou nothing ? behold how many 
 things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet 5 
 answered nothing ; so that Pilate marvelled. 
 Release of Now at that feast he released unto them one 6 
 Barabbas. p r { sonerj whomsoever they desired. And there 7 
 was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with 
 them that had made insurrection with him, who 
 had committed murder in the insurrection. And 8 
 the multitude crying aloud began to desire him 
 to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate 9 
 answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto 
 you the King of the Jews ? For he knew that the 10 
 chief priests had delivered him for envy. But n 
 the chief priests moved the people, that he should 
 rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate 12 
 answered and said again unto them, What will ye 
 then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the 
 King of the Jews? And they cried out again, 13 
 Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, 14 
 
ST. MARK 99 
 
 what evil hath he done ? And they cried out the Chap. 15 
 
 15 more exceedingly, Crucify him. And so Pilate, 
 willing to content the people, released Barabbas 
 unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had 
 scourged him, to be crucified. 
 
 1 6 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, Jesus 
 called Praetorium ; and they call together the whole and 
 
 1 7 band. And they clothed him with purple, and scourged, 
 platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his 
 
 18 head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the 
 
 19 Jews ! And they smote him on the head with 
 a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their 
 
 20 knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked 
 him, they took off the purple from him, and put his 
 own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. 
 
 21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who 
 passed by, coming out of the country, the father of The cruci- 
 
 2 a Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And they between 
 bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being * wo rob * 
 
 23 interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave 
 him to drink wine mingled with myrrh : but he 
 
 24 received it not. And when they had crucified him, 
 they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, 
 
 25 what every man should take. And it was the third 
 
 26 hour, and they crucified him. And the superscrip- 
 tion of his accusation was written over, THE 
 
 27 KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they 
 crucify two thieves ; the one on his right hand, 
 
 28 and the other on his left. And the scripture was 
 fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with 
 
 29 the transgressors. And they that passed by railed 
 on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou 
 that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three 
 
 h 2 
 
IOO 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 15 
 
 The burial 
 of Jesus. 
 
 days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. 30 
 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among 31 
 themselves with the scribes, He saved others ; him- 
 self he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel 32 
 descend now from the cross, that we may see and 
 believe. And they that were crucified with him 
 reviled him. 
 
 And when the sixth hour was come, there was 33 
 darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 
 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud 34 
 voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which 
 is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood 35 
 by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth 
 Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of 36 
 vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to 
 drink, saying, Let alone ; let us see whether Elias 
 will come to take him down. And Jesus cried 37 
 with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And 38 
 the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the 
 top to the bottom. 
 
 And when the centurion, which stood over 39 
 against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave 
 up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son 
 of God. There were also women looking on afar 40 
 off : among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary 
 the mother of James the less and of Joses, and 
 Salome ; (who also, when he was in Galilee, followed 41 
 him, and ministered unto him ;) and many other 
 women which came up with him unto Jerusalem. 
 
 And now when the even was come, because it 42 
 was the preparation, that is, the day before the 
 sabbath, Joseph of Arimathsea, an honourable 43 
 
ST. MARK tot 
 
 counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom Chap. 15 
 of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, 
 
 44 and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate mar- 
 velled if he were already dead : and calling unto 
 him the centurion, he asked him whether he had 
 
 45 been any while dead. And when he knew it of 
 
 46 the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And 
 he bought fine linen, and took him down, and 
 wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a 
 sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and 
 rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. 
 
 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of 
 Joses beheld where he was laid. 
 
 16 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magda- The 
 lene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, Tndthe 
 had bought sweet spices, that they might come empty 
 
 2 and anoint him. And very early in the morning 
 the first day of the week, they came unto the 
 
 3 sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they 
 said among themselves, Who shall roll us away 
 
 4 the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And 
 when they looked, they saw that the stone was 
 
 5 rolled away : for it was very great. And entering 
 into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting 
 on the right side, clothed in a long white garment ; 
 
 6 and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, 
 Be not affrighted : Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, 
 which was crucified : he is risen ; he is not here : 
 
 7 behold the place where they laid him. But go 
 your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth 
 before you into Galilee : there shall ye see him, as 
 
 S he said unto you. And they went out quickly, 
 and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled 
 
T02 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Chap. 16 
 
 The risen 
 Christ 
 seen of 
 Mary. 
 
 Seen of 
 two disci- 
 ples. 
 
 Seen of the 
 Eleven. 
 
 The great 
 commis- 
 sion. 
 
 10 
 
 n 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 The 
 Ascen- 
 sion; the 
 preaching 
 of the 
 disciples. 
 
 and were amazed : neither said they any thing to 
 any man ; for they were afraid. 
 
 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of 
 the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, 
 out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she 
 went and told them that had been with him, as 
 they mourned and wept. And they, when they 
 had heard that he was alive, and had been seen 
 of her, believed not. 
 
 After that he appeared in another form unto 
 two of them, as they walked, and went into the 
 country. And they went and told it unto the 
 residue : neither believed they them. 
 
 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they 14 
 sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief 
 and hardness of heart, because they believed not 
 them which had seen him after he was risen. And 
 he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to every creature. He that 
 belie veth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he 
 that believeth not shall be damned. And these 17 
 signs shall follow them that believe ; In my name 
 shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new 
 tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they 18 
 drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they 
 shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 
 
 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, 19 
 he was received up into heaven, and sat on the 
 right hand of God. And they went forth, and 
 preached every where, the Lord working with them, 
 and confirming the word with signs following. 
 Amen. 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 20 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son 1 
 of God. 
 
 Title. The title which this book bears in ancient documents 
 appears in different forms. In the oldest of our Greek MSS. 
 it is simply 'According to Mark'; in those a little later it is 'The 
 Gospel according to Mark'; in others later still it is 'The Holy 
 Gospel according to Mark.' We do not know when the records 
 of Christ's life first came to have the distinctive name of 'Gospels.' 
 It may have been at a very early period, not very long indeed 
 after they got into circulation ; as may be gathered perhaps from 
 the way in which they are spoken of in ancient lists of the N. T. 
 books, and by writers like Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian of 
 Carthage, and Clement of Alexandria, belonging to the end of the 
 second century or the beginning of the third. We have no reason 
 to suppose that it was given them by their authors ; nor can we 
 say that it was believed by early Christian writers to have been 
 so given. One of the best of the Greek Fathers, Chrysostom of 
 Antioch, declares that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did not 
 'write their names.' The designation was attached to the books 
 by the scribes to whom we owe the MSS.; and it expresses 
 their belief, or the traditional belief, regarding the authorship of 
 these records. In the present case it means not that the book 
 was composed after Mark's manner merely, or on the basis of 
 matter furnished by Mark, but that Mark himself was the author 
 of the Gospel in this particular written form. 
 
 i. i -8. Introduction. The second Gospel is the Gospel of action, 
 and it has that character from its first statement. It opens in 
 a way remarkable for its brevity, simplicity, and directness. It 
 takes the shortest course to the heart of its subject— the good 
 news of the actual advent of Messiah. It dispenses with all but 
 the briefest and most obvious introduction. In the eight verses 
 which serve that purpose it gives the historical event in which 
 
io6 ST. MARK 1. i 
 
 the fulfilment of the Divine promise began to declare itself, and 
 in which the writer finds the point of issue for his narrative. 
 
 There is a difference therefore, which at once catches the eye, 
 between this Gospel and the other three in the way in which 
 their common theme is approached. Matthew starts with our 
 Lord's genealogy, birth, and infancy. Luke likewise takes in 
 hand the question of his descent, and reports both the circum- 
 stances of his birth and the incidents of his childhood and youth. 
 John begins with his pre-existence, and carries us back to the 
 eternal antecedents of his mission in the flesh. Mark, on the 
 other hand, does not take us behind the appearance of the Fore- 
 runner. 
 
 In what he says of this Forerunner, too, he follows his own 
 course. Matthew gives with some circumstance not only the 
 burden, but also the effects of John's preaching. With consider- 
 able detail Luke reports the incidents of the Baptist's birth. In 
 like manner John sets the career of the second Elias in the front 
 of his version of the Gospel, expounding both the purpose for 
 which he was sent by God and the testimony which he bore to 
 Jesus. But Mark passes by most of these things, as he passes by 
 the story of our Lord's earliest years, and fixes at once on the 
 Baptist's preaching. Having it in view to give an account of 
 Christ's public ministry and official work, he seeks no other 
 starting-point than the immediately antecedent event, viz. his 
 baptism at the hands of John. It is as a preparation for this that 
 he gives his picture in small compass of the man, his mission, and 
 his doings in the wilderness of Judaea. 
 
 1. The opening verse stands by itself. It forms the heading 
 for the narrative as a whole, or, it may be, for the paragraph 
 occupied with the Forerunner. It announces the subject with 
 which the book is to be engaged, and the point at which it has 
 its historical commencement. The subject is 'the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ,' that is, the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the 
 Messiah, long looked for, but now come and seen of men in 
 i the fulfilment of his Divine vocation. When John made his 
 appearance, proclaiming one mightier than himself who came 
 after him, the glad tidings of the realization of God's promise 
 and Israel's hope began to be made good. 
 
 gospel. This familiar word, with all its dear associations, 
 comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon 'Godspell,' which means 
 God-stoiy. It represents a Greek word which signifies in the 
 oldest literature a present or reward given for good news, later 
 a sacrifice or thank-offering for the same, and later still the good 
 news itself. In the Greek translation of the O.T. it is applied 
 generally to any kind of < good news ' (e. g. 2 Sam. iv. 10 ; 
 2 Kings vii. 9), and specifically to the prophetic announcement 
 of the coming of the Messianic kingdom (e. g. Isa. lxi. 1-2). In 
 
ST. MARK 1. i 107 
 
 the N.T. it is closely related to the great idea of the kingdom 
 of God, and means definitely ' the good news of Messiah's 
 kingdom' (Matt. iv. 23, ix. 35, xxiv. 14, &c). The present \ 
 passage is the only one in the four evangelic narratives in which 
 the particular phrase 'the gospel of Jesus Christ' is found. 
 Elsewhere in these records it is simply 'the gospel,' or 'the 
 gospel of God' (Mark i. 14, R. V.), or 'the gospel of the 
 kingdom.' In the Gospels themselves the prevailing idea of 
 the phrase 'the gospel' is that of the good news proclaimed or 
 brought in by Christ. In the Epistles it is that of the good news 
 about Christ. But even in the Gospels the term is at times 
 connected in a significant way with the person of Christ, as 
 e. g. in the words 'for my sake and the gospel's' (Mark viii. 35 ; 
 cf. x. 29) ; and in this opening verse of Mark we see the transi- 
 tion from ' the good news brought by Christ ' to ' the good news 
 regarding Christ.' The word is used by Paul more frequently 
 and with greater variety of application than by any other N. T. 
 writer. It occurs but once in Peter (1 Pet. iv. 17), once in 
 the Apocalypse (xiv. 6), twice in Acts (xv. 7, xx. 24), four 
 times in Matthew, eight times in Mark, never in James, never 
 in Luke's Gospel, never in John's Gospel or Epistles, never in 
 Hebrews, but some fifty-eight times in the Epistles ascribed to 
 Paul. 
 
 of Jesus Christ. The person whose ministry is to be the 
 subject of Mark's narrative is designated at the outset with some 
 fullness. He has first the personal name ' Jesus ' — a name common 
 enough among the Jews, identical with the O.T. Jehoshua (Num. 
 xiii. 16 A. V.\ Joshua (Exod. xxiv. 13, &c), or Jeshua, the form 
 which it had after the Exile (Neh. vii. 7), which means probably 
 'Jehovah-salvation.' This is followed by the official name 'Christ,' 
 the N. T. representative of the Hebrew word for 'Anointed One,' 
 1 Messiah.' Those who held office in Israel were anointed to it, 
 e. g. the priest (Lev. iv. 3, v. 16, vi. 15 ; Ps. cv. 15). But in 
 the O. T. the king is specially spoken of as anointed (1 Sam. 
 xxiv. 7, 11 ; Ps. ii. 2; Isa. xliv. 1, &c), and in Daniel (ix. 25) 
 Messiah is described as 'prince.' So the term 'Messiah' or 
 ' Christ ' became a theocratic name, expressing the idea that he 
 who was to come to restore Israel was to come in the character 
 of a king, and one of David's line. In the Book of Enoch, perhaps 
 about the close of the second century b. c, and in the later 
 non-canonical literature of Judaism, it is used of the Messianic 
 king. This official sense, however, gradually fell away, and the 
 term ' Christ ' became a personal or proper name like Jesus. As 
 such it is used for the most part in Acts and the Epistles. In the 
 Gospels, except in a few passages, especially in the beginnings, 
 it still retains its technical sense, and is best rendered ' //^Christ.' 
 
 Sou of God. To the personal and official names is added 
 
108 ST. MARK 1. 2 
 
 2 Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, 
 
 a third designation, not ' Son of David ' or ' Son of Abraham ' as 
 in the opening of Matthew's Gospel, but ' Son of God.' This is 
 omitted indeed in some very ancient MSS., but the testimony in 
 its favour is strong enough to entitle us to regard it as a part 
 of the genuine text. It is an important title. It occurs (not to 
 speak of equivalent forms, 'the Son,' 'the only begotten Son,' 
 ' my beloved Son,' &c.) some nine times in Matthew, four times 
 in Mark, six times in Luke, and ten times in John. It is used of 
 Christ both by others and by himself. In the first three Gospels 
 there is but one case in which the definite phrase 'the Son of 
 God ' is applied by him directly to himself (Matt, xxvii. 43) ; 
 but there are various instances in which it is applied indirectly, 
 or in terms of similar meaning. It expresses his peculiar relation 
 to God, a relation of oneness, yet with a difference ; just as the 
 title ' the Son of man ' expresses his peculiar relation to man. 
 These two names, as used in the N. T., have their roots in the 
 O. T., the one in the figure of the ' Son of man ' in Daniel, the 
 other in the son of Jehovah addressed in the second Psalm. 
 Both occur also in the non-canonical writings, and are to be 
 interpreted in their light. 
 
 In this opening statement the evangelist gives his own view 
 of the great subject of his narrative. Here, therefore, the title 
 designates that subject as the Messiah, but (as Meyer rightly 
 puts it) ' in the believing consciousness of the metaphysical sonship 
 of God.' To Mark, writing after the ministry, the death, and the 
 resurrection, the person whose life he records is the Messiah, 
 but also one related to God by nature, having his being from 
 God as a son has his being from his father. 
 
 2-4. How are these verses to be connected with each other 
 and with the first verse? Some take the first three verses 
 together as forming the title to the book or to its first section, 
 and suppose the narrative proper to begin with verse 4. But 
 this gives a cumbrous superscription. Others link verses 1 and 4 
 together, and deal with verses 2, 3 as a parenthesis. In that 
 case the form of the statement would be — ' The beginning of 
 the gospel (and all in accordance with ancient prophecy as seen 
 in Malachi and Isaiah) took place when John came baptizing 
 and preaching.' This arrangement is even more awkward than 
 the former. Others solve the difficulty by inserting a ' was ' for 
 which there is no warrant, as if the paragraph ran thus — ' The 
 beginning of the gospel was as it is written in prophecy.' But 
 the verses run in orderly succession, and are to be arranged as 
 in the R. V., not as in the A. V. The first verse stands by itself 
 as title. The narrative then begins at once with verse 2, and 
 
ST. MARK 1. 3 109 
 
 Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, 
 Who shall prepare thy way ; 
 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
 Make ye ready the way of the Lord, 
 
 proceeds connectedly and continously thus — 'Just as it is written 
 in ancient prophecy that one should come before the Messiah to 
 prepare the way for him, so did John appear baptizing and 
 preaching.' 
 
 2. in Isaiah the prophet. Unlike Matthew, Mark seldom 
 introduces the word of prophecy. Here, however, he departs 
 from his usual practice, and brings in two quotations. This he 
 does with the view of shewing that the events in which he recog- 
 nizes ' the beginning of the gospel ' took place in accordance with 
 the voice of prophecy, and formed part of the Divine plan. The 
 true reading here, as the testimony of ancient documents decisively 
 proves, is not ' in the prophets,' as the A. V. has it, but ' in the 
 prophet Isaiah ,' as the R. V. puts it. While Mark gives two 
 distinct quotations, one from Malachi and another from Isaiah, 
 he names only the latter prophet as authority or source. So 
 in Matt. xxi. 4, 5 we find a quotation referred to ' the prophet,' 
 which combines words of Zechariah with words of Isaiah (Zech. 
 ix. 9 ; Isa. lxii. 11). 
 
 Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall 
 prepare thy way. Omit with the R. V. the words 'before thee* 
 in the A. V. The first quotation is from Mai. iii. 1. In adapting 
 it to his purpose here the evangelist makes certain changes in 
 it. The 'before me' of Malachi becomes 'before thy face,' and 
 is transferred from the second clause to the first. Thus the 
 'messenger' who, according to the prophet, is sent before Jehovah, 
 is said here to be sent before the Messiah. What is spoken in 
 Malachi by Jehovah regarding himself, is spoken here by the Lord 
 concerning His anointed. The work ascribed to the ' messenger ' 
 in the prophecy is a work of preparation for the sudden coming 
 of Jehovah in judgement to His temple. The work ascribed to 
 the Forerunner in the Gospel is that of religious preparation for 
 the advent of the object of Israel's hope. In the words ' who 
 shall prepare thy way ' we have a figure taken from the custom, 
 necessary in days when roads were few and ill kept, of sending 
 on an official to make the ways passable, when a monarch was 
 to go on a journey or to make a royal progress. As officers of 
 state made roads ready for the visits of kings, so the 'messenger' 
 was to make spiritual preparation for the coming of the Lord's 
 anointed. 
 
 3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready 
 
no ST. MARK 1. 4 
 
 Make his paths straight; 
 4 John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached 
 
 the -way of the Lord, Make his paths straight. The second 
 quotation is from Isa. xl. 3. It gives the same idea as the former, 
 but with greater fullness, and again with some modification of the 
 original. The definition of locality, which in the prophecy de- 
 scribes the scene of the preparation of the Lord's ways, is omitted 
 here. In the prophecy the voice is that of a herald of Jehovah ; 
 in the Gospel it is the voice of John with reference to Christ. 
 The passage in Isaiah has the return from Babylon in view. It 
 proclaims the glorious news of that deliverance, and gives the call 
 to have all things ready for Jehovah when He brings His people 
 out of exile through the desert to their land. The kingdom of 
 God in Israel was to have its completer realization in the Messianic 
 kingdom, and events in the history of Israel became typical or 
 representative of events in the history of Christ and his kingdom. 
 So the great national deliverance was taken to point forward to 
 the greater Messianic deliverance, and the incident of the call to 
 a material preparation in the former case is interpreted here as 
 typical or representative of the Forerunner's summons of the Jews 
 to a spiritual preparation in the latter. 
 
 4. The best reading here is that which is represented neither by 
 the 'John did baptize . . . and preach 1 of the A. V., nor by the 
 R. V. as above, but by this — \ John who baptized (John the 
 baptizer) came upon the scene in the wilderness preaching.' This, 
 which is on the whole the best accredited reading, is most in 
 harmony with the fact that the quotations have nothing to say 
 of a baptism. It also puts the preaching and the baptizing in their 
 proper relations ; whereas \ baptized and preached ' puts that first 
 which was second. Thus the sentence designates John by the 
 thing which distinguished him from others, viz. his baptizing, and 
 proceeds to state how he performed the part of forerunner, viz. 
 by preaching. 
 
 John : the Hebrew Johanan, which means probably ' Jehovah- 
 grace,' ' the Lord is gracious.' John was kinsman to Jesus and 
 older by some six months. 
 
 came : the word so poorly rendered ' did baptize ' in the A. V. 
 means 'appeared.' 'came upon the scene.' Till now John had 
 lived in seclusion ' in the deserts' (Luke i. 80). At last he comes 
 forth, ' the time of his shewing unto Israel' having arrived, and his 
 emergence marks a great stage in the history of the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 in the wilderness. Thus simply is the scene of John's 
 ministry described. It was well enough known to need no more 
 precise definition. In Matthew it is i the wilderness of Judaea ' 
 
ST. MARK 1. 5 in 
 
 the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. And 5 
 there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and 
 
 (iii. i). In the O. T. it is ' the wilderness ' (Joshua xv. 6i\ or ' the 
 wilderness of Judah ' (Judges i. 16), its eastern side along the Dead 
 Sea being also called Jcshimon, the ' desolation,' the ' horror,' the 
 'devastation 1 (i Sam. xxiii. 19, 24). The name seems to have 
 been given to the stretch of territory extending from Tekoa to the 
 Dead Sea, having the Jordan on its outskirts — a tract of country 
 not utterly bare and profitless, but useful in parts as pasture-ground 
 and suitable for the nomad, yet generally broken, barren, rugged, 
 treeless, and waterless save for a well here and there, and in 
 parts dreary, savage, and forbidding. 
 
 preached: the word means literally proclaimed, announced like 
 a herald, and it may have this sense in verse 7. 
 
 the baptism of repentance, that is, the baptism characterized 
 by or implying repentance. ' Repentance ' was the great word on 
 John's lips, and what he pressed on men was not baptism generally 
 or for its own sake, but the kind of baptism which befitted the 
 approach of the Messianic kingdom and prepared men for the 
 Messiah himself (cf. Matt. iii. 7-10). In the belief of the more 
 spiritual Jews, the sin of the people was the cause of the delay of 
 Messiah's advent ; and John's baptism was a baptism that involved 
 the sense and confession of sin and carried with it the obligation 
 to repent. The ' repentance ' here in view is expressed by a dif- 
 ferent word from that used in a few passages elsewhere, viz. 
 Matt. xxi. 29, 32, xxvii. 3 ; 2 Cor. vii. 10, &c. ; Heb. vii. 21. In 
 these the word (metameleia) means sorrow for sin. Here the term 
 (ntetanoia) means much more than that— neither on the one hand 
 mere grief or regret for sin, nor on the other only a change of life 
 which need be no more than outward reformation, but a change of 
 mind, a change of one's views of himself and God and all things, 
 carrying with it a change of life. It is one of the many words 
 which received a new, deeper, more spiritual significance in 
 Christianity. 
 
 unto remission of sins : John's baptism, therefore, was not 
 administered for its own sake, but with a view to forgiveness. 
 Nor again is it said that it effected forgiveness by some virtue in 
 itself, but that it looked to remission of sins as its end. It is to be 
 observed, too, that John's idea of repentance was essentially the 
 O. T. idea, not yet the Christian — a repentance which meant 
 a change in harmony with the moral requirements of the law, not 
 the spiritual renewal connected with faith as faith is explained in 
 the N. T. 
 
 5. And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and 
 all they of Jerusalem. Mark's picture of the man and his work 
 
ii2 ST. MARK 1. 5 
 
 all they of Jerusalem : and they were baptized of him 
 
 is less complete than Matthew's or Luke's. But it is very graphic, 
 and it has some points of its own. It fixes attention on the success 
 of John's ministry by enlarging on the crowds attracted by it. 
 It speaks as if the whole population — and not only the country- 
 folk from all parts of the Judaean territory, but even the people 
 of Jerusalem — had come to him collectively (the 'all' belongs to 
 this sentence, as in the R. V., not to the 'were baptized,' as in 
 the A. V.), meaning by that strong statement that the mass of the 
 people had done so. We see by Matthew and Luke with what 
 intrepid faithfulness he spoke to their consciences. 
 
 and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan. 
 Matthew says simply 'in Jordan' ; Mark, writing for those not 
 familiar with the Holy Land, is more precise. In most cases the 
 name is ' the Jordan,' and it is usually taken etymologically to 
 mean 'the descender. 5 Other explanations, however, are given. 
 In ancient times some thought it meant ' the river Dan/ or ' the 
 river of two sources, Jor and Dan,' and some now understand it 
 to mean ' watering-place.' Earth's surface can shew few rivers 
 to match this one, either in historical associations or in peculiarity 
 of physical features. The Jordan has been connected with the 
 greatest events in the story of Israel — with memorable passages 
 in the careers of Gideon, Elijah, Elisha, David and others, and 
 with the crowning consecration of the baptism of our Lord. It 
 flows through one of the most singular depressions — ' a rift more 
 that 160 miles long, and from 2 to 15 broad, which falls from the 
 sea-level to as deep as 1,292 feet below it at the coast of the Dead 
 Sea, while the bottom of the latter is 1,300 feet deeper still* 
 (G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 468). Its 
 course is so sinuous that it travels at least 200 miles in a direct 
 line of sixty-five miles. It is thus described by one who made his 
 adventurous way along it by boat. ' The river . . . curved and 
 twisted north, south, east, and west, turning in the short space of 
 half an hour to every quarter of the compass, seeming as if desirous 
 to prolong its luxuriant meanderings in the calm and silent valley, 
 and reluctant to pour its sweet and sacred waters into the accursed 
 waters of the bitter sea ' (Lynch, Narrative, p. 211). 
 
 baptized. The term was a familiar one in ancient Greek, 
 and was used in a variety of applications. It means literally to 
 dip in or under water, to immerse, but also to lave, tvash, &c. 
 The usual form of baptism in ancient times and in these Eastern 
 countries was by immersion. In some cases something short 
 of total immersion may have been employed, as perhaps in the 
 instance of the 3,000 on the day of Pentecost. At an early period 
 in the history of the Church, as we gather from the interesting 
 writing known as the Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 
 
ST. MARK 1. 6 113 
 
 in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. And John 6 
 was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leathern girdle 
 about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey. 
 
 it was allowable to pour water upon the head when facilities 
 for immersion failed ; and at an early period pouring, affusion, 
 or aspersion was practised in the case of the sick. This became 
 the established custom for all in the Western Church after the 
 thirteenth century. But in the Eastern Church immersion has 
 been the general practice from the first on to our own day. In that 
 vast communion generally, and in the orthodox churches of Russia 
 in particular, triple immersion is the order, that is, three distinct 
 acts of dipping, in the names severally of Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. To these churches baptism by a single immersion, whether 
 in the case of modern Baptist, Roman Catholic, or any other, is no 
 baptism. 
 
 confessing 1 their sins. The verb is a strong one, expressing 
 perhaps the freedom and the openness of the act. It was not 
 a private confession to John himself. 
 
 6. And John was clothed with camel's hair. Everything 
 about John was in keeping with his ascetic character, his likeness 
 to Elijah, and the seriousness of the call to repentance which he 
 addressed to stiff-necked Jews. His attire consisted of a short, 
 coarse tunic made of a rough cloth woven of camel's hair (not of 
 camel's skin), such as is still used in the East for raiment and for 
 the covering of tents. It was the sort of garment that was worn 
 by the prophets of old (Zech. xiii. 4), and by Elijah in particular 
 (2 Kings i. 8). 
 
 and had a leathern girdle about his loins. The girdle was 
 needed to keep the loose robe right for purposes of toil or rapid 
 movement. It was a part of their attire on which men laid much 
 store. It was often made of costl3 T material, silk, cotton, fine linen, 
 and ornamented with silver or gold. In John's case the girdle 
 corresponded with the coat. It was of skin, like the girdle of 
 rough, untanned leather which is still worn by the Bedouin, the 
 poor labourer, and the dervish. 
 
 and did eat locusts. His food was only what the desert 
 could provide. These locusts have been mistakenly supposed to 
 be the luscious pods of the locust-bean, called by the monks of 
 Palestine 'St. John's bread.' They are the creatures well known 
 for their destructive work on all kinds of herbage and leafage. 
 The species of locust allowed by the law to be eaten are given in 
 Lev. xi. 22. They are still eaten by the Bedouin Arabs and the 
 poorer classes, whose habit is to tear off the wings and legs and 
 eat the body, roasted or boiled, with a sprinkling of salt. 
 
 and wild honey. It is a question whether the honey here 
 
ii 4 ST - MARK 1. 7,8 
 
 7 And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he 
 that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am 
 
 8 not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I baptized you 
 
 in view is the tree-honey or the bee-honey. The phrase used in 
 the Greek is one applied to a sweet gum that exudes from certain 
 trees, like the palm and the fig, and for this reason some of our 
 best scholars think the tree-honey must be meant here. But most 
 take it to be the wild honey, which is said to be produced in great 
 quantities in the rugged district in question. 'The innumerable 
 fissures and clefts of the limestone rocks which everywhere flank 
 the valleys,' says Dr. Tristram, 'afford in their recesses secure 
 shelter for any number of swarms of wild bees ; and many of the 
 Bedouin, particularly about the wilderness of Judaea, obtain their 
 subsistence by bee-hunting, bringing into Jerusalem jars of that 
 wild honey on which John the Baptist fed in the wilderness 
 (The Land of Israel, p. 88). In the O. T. it is described as found 
 in the hollows of rocks (Deut. xxxii. 13), or in trees, as in the 
 pathetic case of Jonathan (1 Sam. xiv. 25-27). It was not per- 
 mitted to be used in any offering to God, as being liable to ferment 
 
 (Lev. ii. 11). 
 
 7. And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that 
 is mightier than I. It is again the preaching, not the baptizing, 
 that Mark signalizes in John ; and the essence of the preaching 
 that made the Baptist's real function is the announcement of 
 another greater than John himself, the One who had been definitely 
 in view as destined to come after him. It is not explained here 
 in what the greater might of this One consists, but the context 
 suggests that it was in the superiority of the baptism with which 
 he was to baptize. The verb implies, too, that the announcement 
 recorded here was not one that John made on a single occasion, 
 but one that he continued to make as he preached. 
 
 the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy (or, qualified) 
 to stoop down and unloose. The sandal, which covered only the 
 sole, was fastened by a thong or strap. It was the duty of slaves 
 of the lowest rank to carry, fetch, and remove the master's 
 sandals. To untie the thong was, if possible, a still more servile 
 duty. Notice the graphic turn given to Mark's simple statement 
 by the introduction of the act of stooping in order to do the untying : 
 so little was the preacher in comparison with his Subject. He held 
 himself inferior in power and dignity, unfit even to do the most 
 menial service to that greater One. 
 
 8. I baptized you with water ; tout he shall toaptize you with 
 the Holy Ghost. With whatever awe it was regarded by the 
 Jews, and whatever significance belonged to it, his baptism, John 
 was eager to declare, was as inferior to that which was to succeed 
 
ST. MARK 1. 8 115 
 
 with water ; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 it as he was himself less than that Other. The one baptism 
 worked by water, speaking of the need of repentance and serving 
 as the sign of an inward change ; the other was the reality effect- 
 ing that change. The latter was this because it was a baptism 
 ' with (or in the Holy Ghost,' one that worked by the instrument, 
 or moved within the sphere, of the Spirit, and so could reach 
 the inner life, and apply influences there to touch the springs of 
 thought and action with purification and renewal. Speaking from 
 the O. T. standpoint, John could not mean by 'the Holy Ghost' 
 all that we understand by that great term. In the O. T. the Holy 
 Ghost is only on the way to be the personal Agent who is made 
 known to us in the N. T. The 'spirit of God,' the 'spirit of the 
 Lord,' the 'spirit of holiness ' there is the power or energy of God 
 that appears as the life-giving principle of the world, the source of 
 the gifts of soldier, king, artificer, prophet ; presented also in 
 higher aspects, especially in the poetical and prophetical books, 
 and with a nearer approach to personal qualities, as the guide and 
 helper of men, the inspiration of their life, and the endowment of 
 Messiah (cf. Gen. i. 2; Exod. xxxi. 3 ; Judges iii. 10; Job xxvi. 13, 
 xxxiii. 4; Ps. civ. 30; Isa. xi. 2, xlii. 1, lix. 21, lxi. 1, Ixiii. 10, 
 Mic. iii. 8). Prophecy spoke of an effusion of the Spirit upon all 
 flesh as one of the features of the Messianic age (Isa. xliv. 3 ; 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 25 ; Joel ii. 28). 
 
 The precise nature and affinities of John's baptism have been 
 much discussed. Ceremonial ablutions have been common to many 
 religions. The Jews had their own particular ablutions and puri- 
 fications by water, as in the consecration of priests (Exod. xxix. 
 4), the cleansing of lepers, &c. (Lev. xiv. 8, &c). They had also 
 a special application of the rite of ablution in the case of proselytes, 
 these being received on the footing of circumcision, the offering of 
 a sacrifice, and the cleansing which preceded the presentation 
 of the oblation. It is still an unsettled question, however, whether 
 this third point in the ceremonial had a place before the destruction 
 of Jerusalem ; and the washing in question was also one that was 
 performed by the offerer on himself. Further, in the words of the 
 great prophets and also in some of the Psalms, the terms in which 
 these ceremonial ablutions were expressed had become figures 
 of moral processes and results (Isa. i. 16 ; Ezek. xxxv. 25 ; 
 Zech. xiii. 1 ; Ps. Ii. 4). The course of development which issued 
 in John's baptism lay along these lines. It differed from previous 
 baptisms or ablutions in its requirement of the deep, inward change 
 meant by repentance, in the open confession of sin which went with 
 it, in its having all sins in view, and not merely certain special 
 offences, in its being applicable to Jews as well as Gentiles, and in 
 its function as a preparation for the kingdom of God. It differed 
 
 I 2 
 
n6 ST. MARK 1. 9 
 
 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came 
 from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in 
 
 from the Christian baptism which followed it in the specific 
 connexion of the latter with faith in Jesus Christ and with the 
 gift of the Spirit. 
 
 9-11. The Baptism: cf. Mark iii. 13-17 ; Luke iii. 21,22. 
 This paragraph deals with the baptism of Jesus. That meant 
 his ordination to his public ministry. In that act the ministry of 
 John had its culmination. It was an event of such moment that 
 all the evangelists report it, John in part and indirectly (John 
 i. 29-34), Matthew at most length. Mark's account of it is brief, 
 but vivid and circumstantial, giving time, place, and result. 
 
 9*. in those days: i.e. the time when John was announcing the 
 advent of the Messiah and baptizing the people. Luke (iii. 23) 
 tells us that Jesus 'when he began to teach, was about thirty 
 years of age.' That was the age appointed under the Levitical 
 law for the beginning of the service of every Levite who 'came 
 to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the 
 tent of meeting' (Num. iv. 43, 47). 
 
 Nazareth of Galilee is named as the place from which Jesus 
 now came, and in which he had hitherto been residing in seclu- 
 sion and meek obedience. Mark's plan does not require him to 
 introduce Bethlehem and the days of the infancy. Nazareth, now 
 known among the Arabs as en-Nasim, seems never to have risen 
 to any importance, and it is not mentioned either in the O. T. 
 or in Josephus. It was planted on one of the limestone hills of 
 the Lebanon, some 1,600 feet high, where the range dips down 
 into the Plain of Esdraelon. It occupied a secluded position, 
 hidden in a basin of the hills, off the main lines of traffic, yet at 
 no great distance from Jerusalem, Capernaum, Tiberias, and other 
 places of note. It was not so remote as to cut its inhabitants 
 off from the strong, active, varied life of Northern Palestine. 
 Travellers tell us of the superb panorama that opens out to the 
 eye from the heights about it and above it. It is reported to be 
 now a somewhat thriving town. 
 
 ■baptized ... in Jordan : lit. ' into Jordan,' a phrase never used 
 again in the N. T., pointing probably to immersion as the mode. 
 The precise locality of the baptism of Jesus is much debated. 
 The traditions of the Latin and Greek churches agree in placing 
 it not far from Jericho, but they differ otherwise, the tradition of 
 the Greek church connecting it with a site two or three miles 
 below that to which the Latin tradition points. John speaks of 
 the Baptist baptizing in ' Bethabara (or Bethany) beyond Jordan,' 
 and again 'in JEnon, near to Salim' (i. 28, iii. 23\ Hence some 
 would put it at a day's journey from Nazareth, north-east of 
 
ST. MARK 1. 10 117 
 
 the Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the *o 
 water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit 
 
 Jacob's Well — at the ancient ford near Succoth, or at a more 
 southern ford not far from Jericho. Col. Conder places the 
 Bcthabara of John i. 28 at the ford Abarah, just north of Beisan, 
 and thinks that the better reading Bethany points to the idea that 
 the scene of the baptism was near Bashan. But this is little more 
 than conjecture. And as to ^Enon and Salim. though Eusebius and 
 Jerome speak of the latter as eight Roman miles south of Scytho- 
 polis, we do not know the real position either of the one or of the 
 other. 
 
 Christ's submission to John's baptism has been affirmed by 
 some to negative his sinlessness. How could one, it has been 
 asked, who had no consciousness of sin seek ' the baptism of 
 repentance ' ? How could one, who had no confession of sin to 
 make, approach with any propriety an ordinance which required 
 open confession of sin, and looked to remission of sin ? It might 
 be difficult to answer that question if John's baptism related only 
 to confession and forgiveness of sin. But its scope was wider. 
 Its largest relation was to the kingdom of God, and its ultimate 
 significance lay in the preparation for that. Christ came to esta- 
 blish that kingdom among men, and this ordinance was the definite 
 dedication of himself to the service of that kingdom. His baptism 
 was the act by which he separated himself from the position of 
 a private Jew and from his previous life, and took up the Messianic 
 office as the vocation to which all else had to be subordinate. 
 Further, as he subjected himself to the common law of growth 
 in his physical, intellectual, and ethical being, he was to advance 
 from one stage of holy perfection to another in the fulfilment of 
 that vocation. And this ordinance meant the consecration of him- 
 self to a moral task implying an ever-deepening obedience, an 
 ever-expanding spiritual achievement, an ever-enlarging victory 
 over all that could compete with his Father's will or compromise 
 the interests of His kingdom. 
 
 IO. And straightway. Mark uses here one of his favourite 
 words, variously rendered, as e. g. ' straightway,' ' immediately,' 
 'forthwith.' The act of baptism was followed by two events 
 which made it memorable and significant — the illapse of the Spirit 
 and the Divine attestation of the Sonship of Jesus. 
 
 coming- up out of the water. The connexion implies that 
 at once on being baptized, Jesus came out of the stream and had 
 the experiences here recorded. 
 
 he saw the heavens rent asunder : or better, ' in the act 
 of rending.' The expression is a striking one, better given as 
 'rending' than as 'opened' (A. VA The verb is the one that is 
 used of the sharp dividing of a multitude (Acts xiv. 4, xxiii. 7), and 
 
n8 ST. MARK 1. ii 
 
 1 1 as a dove descending upon him : and a voice came out 
 
 of the rending or tearing of a piece of old cloth (Luke v. 36), the 
 breaking of a net (John xxi. 11), the rending of the veil of the 
 temple, and the rending of the rocks (Matt, xxvii. 51). Compare 
 the opening of the heavens in the case of Stephen (Acts vii. 56), 
 and in that of Peter's vision (Acts x. 11). 
 
 and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him. Luke 
 expresses it so — ' and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily form, 
 as a dove, upon him. 1 It may not mean perhaps that the Spirit 
 took the actual form of a dove, but that something was seen which 
 had a dove-like appearance. So on the occasion of the Pentecostal 
 effusion there was a visible form which had the appearance of 
 cloven tongues of fire. The words imply that there was some real 
 outward phenomenon, and not merely a subjective vision. But 
 the appearance may not have seemed extraordinary, or have 
 conveyed the impression of something out of course to an}' but 
 John and Jesus ; just as the voice heard at a later period was under- 
 stood indeed by Jesus, but seemed like thunder to the bystanders 
 (John xii. 29). It was the objective sign to the Forerunner that 
 he whom he baptized was indeed the Messiah. It was also a sign 
 to our Lord himself, as a comparison of the Synoptical Gospels 
 suggests, that the hour for taking up his official ministry was 
 come. The dove has a place in the familiar imagery of the O. T. 
 (Ps. lxviii. 13; Song of Sol. ii. 12). It was, as it still is, a symbol of 
 such qualities as innocence, gentleness, tenderness. The dove-like 
 form, therefore, of the descent may point to these as the qualities 
 of the gift bestowed on the Messiah for his work. 
 
 Did this descent of the Spirit, however, really communicate any- 
 thing to Jesus ? Some would say that it meant the entrance of the 
 Logos, the Eternal Word, into the man Jesus ; which is certainly 
 to say too much. Others, going to the opposite extreme, would 
 say that as Christ had the Divine nature he could need no new 
 impartation of the Spirit beyond what he already had. But the 
 words, especially in view of John iii. 34, indicate a real communi- 
 cation of the Spirit, one that had special relation to his Messianic 
 work, and one that was to be permanent (John i. 33^. It was 
 indeed by the Spirit in him that he grew in wisdom and in favour 
 with God and with man. It was by the Spirit in him that in 
 perfect righteousness he fulfilled the conditions of his preparation 
 in the long years of his privacy. It was by the Spirit in him that 
 he became conscious more and more of his true relation to God, 
 and of the mission appointed him by his Father. But he stood 
 now at the age of his maturity, and the time of his entrance on 
 the actual discharge of his mission. For his special vocation he 
 received a special anointing of the Holy Ghost, an endowment 
 by the Spirit with the powers needed for his work. 
 
ST. MARK 1. 12 119 
 
 of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am 
 well pleased. 
 
 And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth into the 12 
 
 11. and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my "beloved 
 Son. With the descent of the Spirit came an uttered testimony 
 to the Sonship of Jesus. The term 'beloved' (cf. Gen. xxii. 2; 
 Isa. xlii. 1), which in the Epistles is used of the Christian man, 
 appears to be limited in the Gospels to Christ, as God's Son in 
 a peculiar sense. Even in the parables, where it seems to be 
 applied to men, it is used with reference to Christ (Mark xii. 6; 
 Luke xx. 13). It is not found in John's Gospel, but is equivalent 
 to the ' only-begotten ' which is the phrase there. It occurs 
 as a title of Messiah in the non-canonical Jewish books, such as 
 the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Ascension of Isaiah, &c. 
 Here the address ' my beloved Son ' designates Jesus as the i 
 Messiah, yet not in respect of office only, but with the further ; 
 idea of his peculiar relation to God. 
 
 in thee I am well pleased : or, ' on thee I set my favour.' 
 A term of grace, the equivalent of an O. T. phrase expressing the 
 perfection of the Divine satisfaction and complacency. Cf. Isa. 
 xlii. 1, lxii. 4. 
 
 It is Jesus himself, not John, that is said here, as also in Matthew 
 and Luke, to have seen the great sight of the heavens rending, 
 and the Spirit descending in dove-like form. From the Fourth 
 Gospel (i. 32) we learn that the Baptist also saw these sights. 
 There is nothing to indicate that they were seen by others as 
 these two saw them. So it was to Jesus himself that the voice 
 was addressed. Not even in the Fourth Gospel is it said to } 
 have been heard by John or any other. It was a witness to 
 Jesus himself, bringing to his human consciousness the assurance ( 
 of his relation to God. He had at a much earlier date the sense 
 that God was his Father, and that it belonged to him to be con- 
 cerned with his Father's business or house (Luke ii. 49). This is 
 the first of three voices addressed to Jesus at great turning-points 
 in his mission, the others being at the Transfiguration (Markix. 7) 
 and on the occasion of the coming of the Greeks ( John xii. 28). 
 
 These events took place immediately on bis baptism. One 
 thing is added by Luke, which is of the deepest interest. He 
 is the evangelist who tarries most on the prayers of our Lord, 
 and he tells us that it was when Jesus was praying (iii. 21) that 
 he saw the sights here reported. Solemn prayer also had its 
 place in the choice of the Twelve (Luke vi. 12), the Transfigura- 
 tion (Luke ix. 29), and the Agony in Gethsemane (Matt. xxvi. 39). 
 
 12. And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth. The 
 inauguration of Jesus by baptism, the descent of the Spirit, and the 
 
120 ST. MARK 1. 13 
 
 13 wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days 
 
 endorsement of the heavenly voice, are followed by the Temptation. 
 This mysterious passage in the course of discipline under which 
 the Son of God put himself for our sake is recorded with extreme 
 brevity by Mark. To him it is only introductory to his proper 
 subject — the public ministry. It is omitted by John. It is given 
 at some length by Matthew and Luke, and with some differences ; 
 of which the most important is in the order of the successive 
 temptations. But if Mark's account is brief, it has a character 
 of its own. He alone gives the graphic touch about the wild 
 beasts, and it is remarkable how many points he crowds into his 
 short summary — the date, the occasion, the impelling influence, 
 the scene, the duration, the agent, the circumstances of terror and 
 of support. 
 
 The time of the event is given even more precisely than by 
 Matthew and Luke. By the use of his favourite term ' straight- 
 way ' Mark indicates how close upon the inaugural glories came 
 the onset of temptation. The occasion is stated to have been an 
 influence of the Spirit. God, who tempts no man as He himself 
 cannot be tempted of evil, nevertheless leads us at times into 
 temptation, and Christ is here declared to have been brought 
 into the strange and painful circumstances of temptation by the 
 same Spirit who had just descended upon him with his special 
 gifts and still abode with him. The other evangelists speak of 
 him as being 'led' (Luke iv. 1) or 'led up' (Matt. iv. 1) by the 
 Spirit. Mark selects a stronger word, ' driveth forth.' Looking 
 to such references to the Spirit as those in 1 Kings xviii. 12 
 (the Spirit carrying Elijah whither Obadiah knew not), Ezek. 
 viii. 3 (the Spirit lifting the prophet up between earth and 
 heaven), Acts viii. 39 (Philip caught away by the Spirit of 
 the Lord), 1 Cor. xiv. 2 (speaking mysteries in the Spirit in an 
 unknown tongue), Rev. i. 10 (John being in the Spirit on the 
 Lord's day), some conclude that Mark's words indicate that 
 Jesus was in a condition of ecstacy in which the ordinary move- 
 ments of sense and mind were in abeyance, while others take 
 them to mean that he was transported by a rapid translation from 
 one place to another in the way affirmed of certain prophets and 
 evangelists. The former supposition is probable in itself, though 
 it does not lie in the words ; the latter goes even further beyond 
 the scope of the statement. What is meant is that Jesus was 
 impelled by a constraining influence which he recognized to be of 
 the Spirit — that he was borne on not by his own will, but by 
 a Divine impulse. 
 
 into the wilderness. All three Synoptists give the scene 
 simply as ' the wilderness,' without further specification. It is 
 
ST. MARK 1. 13 121 
 
 tempted of Satan ; and he was with the wild beasts ; and 
 the angels ministered unto him. 
 
 natural, therefore, to understand by it just the wilderness already 
 spoken of. Yet the narrative suggests a movement from the 
 locality in which John was baptizing to another — to a different 
 1 desert' or to a different part, a remoter and lonelier part, of the 
 same wilderness of Judaea. The latter is the more probable sup- 
 position. Some, however, think the great Arabian desert is in view 
 — the stern district east of Jordan, associated with the activities 
 and experiences of Moses and Elijah. But this is unlikely, both 
 by reason of the distance from the scene of the Baptism and because 
 there are no such defining terms as we should expect in such case. 
 Tradition has connected the scene with a hill Jcbel Kuruntul, 
 called Mo 1 is Ouarantania (with reference to the forty days\ which 
 has been compared to the Rock of Gibraltar, and is described as 
 rising like a ' perpendicular wall of rock, 1,200 or 1,500 feet above 
 the plain,' that is, the plain of the Jordan, somewhat west of 
 Jericho. The district in which this hill stands is wild enough to 
 suit the circumstances. But the tradition does not seem to be 
 older than the time of the Crusades. The most that can be said 
 is that the place of the Temptation was probably not far distant 
 from that of the Baptism, and that it was somewhere, therefore, on 
 the western side of the Dead Sea. ' Those denuded rocks,' says 
 Pressense\ ' that reddened soil scorched by a burning sun, that 
 sulphurous sea stretching like a shroud over the accursed cities, 
 all this land of death, mute and motionless as the grave, formed a 
 fitting scene for the decisive conflict for the Man of Sorrows.' 
 
 13. And he was in the wilderness forty days. Mark's 
 words would naturally imply that he was tempted all the space 
 of time that he spent in the wilderness. In this Mark agrees with 
 Luke (iv. 2). But Matthew speaks of the temptations which he 
 records as if they came upon Jesus only at the end of this period. 
 The probable conclusion is that he was tempted all through the 
 period of the fasting, and that at its close, when he was worn 
 and exhausted, he was met by three special and concentrated 
 forms of temptation. It may be that during the fast of forty days 
 temptation came to him in the form of uncertainty as to his voca- 
 tion, doubts regarding the dove-like form, and the reality of the 
 heavenly voice attesting his Sonship. 
 
 tempted of Satan. The three evangelists agree in pointing 
 to an objective agent in the temptation, distinct from the tempted 
 One's own mind. Matthew and Luke speak of this agent as • the 
 devil,' i. e. the accuser (cf. Rev. xii. 10) or slanderer, also named 
 Abaddon in Hebrew, and Apollyon ( = destroyer) in Greek. Mark 
 uses the Hebrew name, Satan, the 'adversary' (Job ii. 1). By 
 
122 ST. MARK 1. 13 
 
 I these names Scripture designates a personal spirit of evil, who is 
 represented as the enemy of God and Christ, the prince of demons, 
 the author of temptation, working by persecution, deceit, and 
 guile for the estrangement of men from God. Much of the popular 
 idea of the Tempter is due not to Scripture, but to mediaeval theology, 
 Milton's Paradise Lost, and Dante's Divine Comedy. Yet much 
 is said of him in the Bible, and more by far in the N.T. than in 
 the O. T. 
 
 and he was with the wild beasts. Mark alone mentions 
 this. Travellers speak of the number of wild beasts — cheetahs, 
 boars, jackals, wolves, hyaenas, &c, still to be met in the deserts 
 of the Holy Land, especially in the neighbourhood of convenient 
 wadies (see Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 240). Fanciful meanings 
 have been devised for this companionship. Some have suggested 
 an analogy with Daniel in the lion's den ; others have imagined 
 the statement to be introduced in order to suggest a parallel 
 between Jesus and the First Adam in Paradise. It may be 
 intended to sharpen the picture of the desolateness of his position. 
 It may simply be meant to express the fact that he suffered from 
 another danger besides Satanic temptation — that of ravenous, 
 encompassing beasts. It may suggest that ' their presence, their 
 yells of hunger, their ravening fierceness, their wild glaring eyes, 
 had left as it were an ineffable and ineffaceable impression of horror 
 in addition to the terror and loneliness of the wilderness as such ' 
 (Plumptre). 
 
 and the angels ministered unto him. This is not noticed 
 by Luke, who tells us simply that the devil ' departed from him for 
 a season ' (iv. 13). Matthew records that, when the devil left him, 
 'angels came and ministered unto him ' (iv. 11). According to him, 
 therefore, these ministrations took place at the end of the tempta 
 tions. Mark does not say explicitly at what point they came in. 
 But his change in the tenses came (past) . . . were ministering 
 (imperfect) indicates that they were repeated, or that they went on 
 during the course of temptation. What form these ministrations 
 took — whether that of support for his exhausted physical nature, 
 or spiritual help, or, as Meyer thinks, protection against Satan and 
 the wild beasts — is not stated. It is possible that the point of the 
 whole statement is in the contrast with the appeal of the Tempter 
 to the assurance given in the O. T. (Ps. xci. 11) of angelic care 
 and protection. 
 
 Mark says nothing of the fasting during the forty days, nor does 
 he give the three forms of temptation recorded in Matthew and 
 Luke. Neither does he indicate in what the temptation consisted. 
 It may have had its occasion, as Keim suggests, in the weight of 
 reflection pressing on the mind of Jesus when he first gave himself 
 of purpose to his Messianic vocation. It lay, we may reverently 
 suppose, in the conflict of thoughts regarding that vocation, in the 
 
ST. MARK 1. 14 123 
 
 Now after that John Avas delivered up, Jesus came into 14 
 Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The 15 
 
 competition between different ways of accomplishing it. In 
 Matthew and Luke the essence of each of the three specific forms 
 of Satanic assault appears to be placed in the inducement to get 
 to the end of his mission by a short and secular course, by power 
 and display, by the preference of the ways of the world and the 
 devil to those of his Father. 
 
 i. 14, 15. Official preaching of Jesus in Galilee. Mark appears 
 to overleap a considerable space of time, amounting probably to 
 a good many months, and to omit a number of events — the return 
 of the Baptist, the call of the first disciples, the marriage at Cana, 
 the visit to Capernaum, the cleansing of the Temple, and others, 
 for the knowledge of which we are indebted to the Fourth Gospel 
 (John i. 29 — iii. 30). He omits the early ministry in Judaea, and 
 the visit to Galilee recorded in John ii, and proceeds at once to 
 the visit to Galilee which was signalized by his first public 
 preaching. This may be the same as that which took him through 
 Samaria as reported by John (chap. iv). The relation of the events 
 recorded in the Gospels at this stage, however, is not certain. 
 But it is clear that the imprisonment of the Baptist made a crisis 
 in events, according to Mark, and formed the occasion for the 
 commencement of Christ's public ministry. The work begun by 
 the Baptist could not be suffered to come to nought. 
 
 14. Now after tnat John was delivered up : that is, to prison. 
 The imprisonment of John receives only incidental mention in 
 the Fourth Gospel (John iii. 24). Luke notices the circumstances 
 shortly before he reports the Temptation (iii. 19, 20). Matthew 
 and Mark report them at greater length (Mark being fuller and 
 more graphic than Matthew), but at a later stage in their narra- 
 tives (Matt. xiv. 3-5 ; Mark vi. 17-20). 
 
 Jesus came into Galilee. Matthew's word is departed 
 (A. V.), or, better, withdrew (R. V.), suggesting that he saw that 
 it was no longer safe to remain near the scene of John's labours. 
 In Galilee indeed he was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, 
 the man who put the Baptist to death ; but he was nearer the 
 territory of Herod Philip, and farther removed from the suspicions 
 and hostilities of the official classes in Jerusalem. 
 
 preaching the gospel of God. From John iv. 1, 2 we may 
 infer that the earlier ministry of Jesus had been more like the 
 Baptist's. Now he takes up the definite work of evangelical 
 preaching, and it is to be observed that all the evangelists repre- 
 sent him as beginning his official ministry not with miracle, but 
 with preaching. The manner of his preaching is not described by 
 Mark, but in Luke (iv. 17-21) we get a vivid picture of it. Mark 
 
124 ST. MARK 1. 15 
 
 time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand *. 
 repent ye, and believe in the gospel. 
 
 gives us, however, a pregnant summary of its matter. His subject 
 was 'the gospel of God' (not 'the gospel of the kingdom of God' 
 as in A. V.), that is, the good news received from God. It was 
 a message of pure mercy which God commissioned him to declare. 
 15. and saying-, The time is fulfilled. In putting these glad 
 tidings before men he had a great announcement to deliver and an 
 urgent call to make. The first point in the statement was that 
 4 the time,' the definite period which in the purpose of God was to 
 elapse before the entrance of the Messianic kingdom, was now 
 completed, so that nothing in the counsel of God, the training of 
 Israel, or the condition of the nations, stood in the way of that 
 great event. This is stated neither by Matthew nor by Luke. 
 It is a link of connexion between Mark and Paul (Gal. iv. 4 ; 
 Eph. i. 16). 
 
 and the kingdom of God is at hand. The second point in 
 the evangelical announcement. It is given also by Matthew, but 
 is omitted by Luke. Here we meet one of the characteristic terms 
 of the N. T. — 'the kingdom,' ' the kingdom of heaven' (or 'of the 
 heavens ') as usually in Matthew and as only in him, ' the kingdom 
 of God' as in Mark and Luke and Paul, the ' heavenly kingdom' 
 (2 Tim. iv. 18), 'the kingdom of Christ.' The idea of a kingdom, 
 which is thus described in respect of its heavenly origin and 
 spiritual character, has its root in passages like Dan. ii. 44, and in 
 the whole O. T. conception of a Divine rule, a reign of Jehovah 
 and His Messiah, which was to make the blessedness of Israel 
 and of earth. The term expresses something different from the 
 organized body called the church visible, and even from the church 
 invisible. It expresses the perfected theocracy, the realization 
 of the prophetic idea of the rule of God on earth, purged of the 
 political notions, the national limitations, and the fantastic mille- 
 narian conceits with which the O. T. note had become encrusted 
 in Judaism. 
 
 repent ye. The first article in the call founded on the 
 announcement. Jesus took up John's word when the latter was 
 silenced, and began with the note of repentance, though he had 
 more to give. 
 
 and believe in the gospel. The second article in the call, 
 and one recorded only by Mark. The phrase 'believe in the 
 gospel ' is peculiar. The ' gospel ' is to be taken here in the 
 general sense. The words mean, therefore, ' believe in the good 
 news announcing that the kingdom of God is really at hand.' The 
 belief or faith to which the N. T. gives so essential a place is usually 
 belief in a Person, trust in Christ himself. The ' belief in view- 
 here is the initial belief in a testimony, in something said of an 
 
ST. MARK 1. t6 125 
 
 And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon 16 
 
 object or a person. It was not till a later stage that Jesus began 
 to preach himself as the object of faith. Yet the difference be- 
 tween John's message and Christ's begins to open here. In the 
 latter it is not repentance only, but repentance and faith. So 
 Paul's gospel was one in which he taught, ' testifying both to 
 Jews and to Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward 
 our Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts xx. 21). 
 
 The land of Galilee, in which Jesus was now delivering his 
 message, and which has so large a place in the Gospel story, is 
 mentioned only six or seven times in the O. T. There it is 
 ' the Galilee/ i. e. the Circle, once more specifically the ' Galilee 
 of the nations' (Isa. ix. 1). In it our Lord had his home, to it 
 most of his early followers belonged by birth or by residence, and 
 with it so many of the most memorable scenes in the Gospel story 
 were connected that it has been justly termed l the birthplace of 
 Christianity.' In our Lord's time it was the most northerly of the 
 three provinces into which Palestine west of Jordan was divided. 
 During the entire course of our Lord's life it was under the juris- 
 diction of Herod Antipas. After his removal it was placed under 
 the rule of the Herod Agrippa who is mentioned in Acts xii. Its 
 area seems to have varied, but it covered verj' much the territories 
 assigned to the tribes of Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun and Issachar, 
 and it included many notable towns. Its people were a strong 
 and independent race, with marked characteristics. It was a land 
 of beautiful and diversified scenery, a land of hill and stream, of 
 lakes and forest, of meadow and pasture, of orchard and grain 
 field. Josephus dilates in glowing terms on its fertility. He 
 speaks of the Plain of Gennesaret as ' that unparalleled Garden of 
 God' {Jewish War, III. iii. 2, 3. x. 8). When he refers to the 
 populousness of the province he uses language that seems exagger- 
 ated. But it is certain that it was peopled more thickly than we 
 can now well imagine, that it yielded vast quantities of oil and 
 wheat and barley, and that it made great wealth by its extensive 
 fisheries. ' It was to Roman Palestine what the manufacturing 
 districts are to England, covered with busy towns, and teeming 
 villages, and thriving fisheries' (Maclear). 
 
 i. 16-20. The call of four disciples, Simon and Andrew, James and 
 John. Compare the narratives in Matt. iv. 18-22; Luke v. 1-11. 
 This meeting, though recorded at this point by Mark, may not 
 have been the first meeting between Jesus and these men. The 
 Fourth Gospel (chap. i. 35-42) gives another account of a call of 
 disciples, from which we learn that Andrew and Simon had been 
 followers of the Baptist, that Andrew met Jesus the day after 
 John's testimony to him as the Lamb of God, and that he was 
 the means also of bringing Simon to Jesus. 
 
126 ST. MARK. 1. 16 
 
 and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the 
 
 16. And passing* along* by the sea of Galilee. The scene 
 of the call was by the beautiful sheet of water on the shores of 
 which so many of Christ's words were spoken and so many of 
 his deeds done. Its O. T. name is ' the sea of Chinneroth ' or ' the 
 sea of Chinnereth' (Num. xxxiv. n ; Joshua xi. 2 ; i Kings 
 xv. 20). In i Mace. (xi. 67) and in Josephus it is Gennesar 
 {Jewish War, III. x. 7, &c. ). In the N.T. it has more than 
 one form — in Matthew and Mark 'the sea,' 'the sea of Galilee'; 
 in Luke usually 'the lake/ once 'the lake of Gennesaret' (v. 1); 
 in John 'the sea of Tiberias' (xxi. 1), ' the sea of Galilee, which is 
 the sea of Tiberias ' (vi. 1). This last name connects it specially 
 with the city called Tiberias, which was built by Herod Agrippa 
 and called after the Emperor Tiberius. From Joshua xix. 35 we 
 gather that there was a fenced city of the name of Chinnereth, 
 in the tribe of Naphtali, of which, however, no trace remains. 
 The name Gennesaret is supposed by some to be taken from 
 a Hebrew word meaning ' harp,' with reference to the shape of 
 the lake. But more probably it is an original Canaanitish word 
 adopted by the Hebrews. The lake is about 12^ miles long 
 and 8 miles wide at its broadest part. It is about 150 feet deep, 
 and lies (according to Sir Charles Warren) some 600 feet beneath 
 the level of the sea. The river Jordan enters it at the north and 
 passes out of it at the south end. The lake is of rare beauty, 
 like a smaller Loch Lomond or Lake of Lucerne. Canon Tristram 
 speaks of the first view one gets of it as like that of the Lake of 
 Geneva from the crest of the Jura range. 
 
 he saw Simon and Andrew. To this pair of brothers, 
 sons of a Jonas (Matt. xvi. 17) or John (John i. 42, xxi. 15-17) 
 belonging to Bethsaida (John i. 44), but having their home then 
 in Capernaum (Mark i. 29), Christ's call came first. They had 
 no doubt been so far prepared for it by their connexion with the 
 Baptist, probably also by previous intercourse with Jesus, and 
 by their religious disposition. Can we doubt that they were of 
 the select class of devout and expectant Israelites who looked 
 in faith and wistfulness for the fulfilment of O. T. promise and 
 prophecy ? ' Simon ' is the Greek form of the Hebrew name, 
 which is also given more literally as 'Symeon' (Acts xv. 14; 
 2 Pet. i. 1, R. V. margin). In the synoptical Gospels it is the 
 name usually given to this disciple on to the time of the choosing 
 of the Apostles, when it is superseded by 'Peter.' 'Andrew' is 
 a Greek name, but one used also by Hebrews. 
 
 casting* a net in the sea: for they were fishers. The 
 phrase as it is put by Mark is simply ' casting about ' — a simple 
 and forcible description of what they were doing at the time. 
 The hand-net is in view here, as distinguished from the ' draw-net' 
 
ST. MARK 1. 17-20 127 
 
 sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, 17 
 Come ye after me, and I will make you to become 
 fishers of men. And straightway they left the nets, and 18 
 followed him. And going on a little further, he saw 19 
 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who 
 also were in the boat mending the nets. And straight- 20 
 
 or 'drag-net/ which was used for fish swimming in shoals (Matt. 
 xxii. 47) and was trailed along the bottom of the deep. The 
 * hand-net ' was used in the way of throwing it about, dipping 
 it down, now here and now there, on one side of the boat and 
 on the other. These men were called then just as they were 
 engaged in their ordinary, lawful employments. 
 
 17. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me. The 
 phrase, ' Hither after me,' expresses a call to become followers 
 in the sense of disciples. 
 
 and I will make you to become fishers of men. They 
 were summoned to a new kind of work — analogous to their 
 present work, but of a higher order. For this higher service 
 the experience which they had of the fisherman's work no doubt 
 was also in some measure a preparation — in respect of the 
 qualities of patience, alertness, activity, watchfulness, keenness 
 of eye, promptitude in seizing the occasion. 
 
 18. And straightway. Their response was instant and complete. 
 There was that in the call and in the caller himself that checked 
 all questioning and won unhesitating obedience. 
 
 they left the nets, and followed him. ' Left ' is better 
 than the ' forsook ' of the A. V. The effect of the call was such 
 that they left the nets just as they were, without giving them 
 a thought, and went straight to him. 
 
 19. And going* on a little further: or, 'going forward 
 a little.' 
 
 he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. 
 A second pair of brothers for the second call. In the synoptical 
 Gospels, where these two are named together, James (the Jacob 
 of the O. T.) is named first (except in Luke ix. 1, where there 
 is a special reason for the change) — an order which, particularly 
 when coupled with the explanation that John was 'his brother,' 
 suggests that James was the elder brother or the more important 
 person. 
 
 who also were in the boat: that is, in their own boat. 
 ' Boat ' is better than the S ship ' of the A. V. The call came to 
 them just a little after it was addressed to Simon and Andrew ; 
 and it reached them, too. just as they were busy with their 
 ordinary work. 
 
128 ST. MARK 1. 21 
 
 way he called them : and they left their father Zebedee 
 in the boat with the hired servants, and went after 
 him. 
 2 1 And they go into Capernaum ; and straightway on 
 
 mending" the nets. Not actually fishing as was the case 
 with the other two, but making the nets all right for the work. 
 
 20. And straightway lie called them. No pause was given 
 them to think what Simon and Andrew were doing, and there 
 was no delay on their part. 
 
 and they left their father Zebedee in the boat. In their 
 case the obedience, therefore, was, if possible, even more striking. 
 Their father was with them (no mention is made of Salome, the 
 mother), but they left work, property, and parent. 
 
 with the hired servants, and went after him. It is pre- 
 carious to infer, from the mention of ' hired servants ' in this case, 
 that there was any difference in social position between the two 
 pairs of brothers. But it implies that Zebedee did not belong to 
 the wholly poor. 
 
 i. 21-28. Jesus in the Synagogue. With this paragraph compare 
 the account in Luke iv. 31-37. We have here Mark's statement 
 of the first impression made by Christ's teaching, his first refer- 
 ence to the scribes, and his first report of a miracle. 
 
 21. And they go. Better than 'they went' of the A. V. The 
 original pictures Jesus and his newly-found disciples making 
 their way at once from the scene of his call and of their former 
 work. Matthew (iv. 12) tells us that on leaving Nazareth Jesus 
 came and dwelt in Capernaum, and Luke that he came down to 
 Capernaum after the Sabbath on which he expounded Isaiah in 
 the synagogue at Nazareth. Mark connects the visit to Capernaum 
 with the call by the sea. But this does not necessarily mean 
 that there had been no previous visit. 
 
 into Capernaum. From Mark i. 29 ; John i. 44 it appears 
 that this was Simon and Andrew's present place of abode. It 
 was natural for them, therefore, to go there. But this was to 
 go where two of them at least, and probably all four, would be 
 among those who knew them best, and where the change that 
 had occurred with them would at once attract notice. Capernaum, 
 in its more proper form Capharnaum, is not mentioned in the 
 O. T. It came to be spoken of as Christ's 'own city* by reason 
 of the close connexion he had with it during his ministry. He 
 predicted its total overthrow on account of its unbelief (Matt. 
 xi. 23). So completely was it ' brought to the dust ' that after 
 the investigations of many years and many hands its very site 
 
ST. MARK 1. 32 129 
 
 the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and 
 taught. And they were astonished at his teaching: 22 
 for he taught them as having authority, and not as the 
 
 remains still uncertain. Some place it at Tell Hum, at the north- 
 west corner of the lake, some three miles south of the point 
 where the Jordan enters. Remains of a city of some importance 
 are found there. Others locate it at Khan Minyeh, some three 
 miles south of Tell Hum, near the sea and not far from where 
 the great Damascus road passed ; others still put it further to 
 the west and south, near the fountain Mudawarah or Mudawerah, 
 where (and indeed only there) are found remains of the coracine 
 or cat-fish, of which Josephus says it ' was produced in the 
 fountain called Capharnaum which waters the plain of Gennesar.' 
 
 and straightway on the sabbath day. This is the first 
 sabbath after the call and the first exercise of the ministry of Jesus 
 after it. 
 
 be entered into the synagogue : he made his way at once 
 to the synagogue. It was the natural place to turn to. It gave 
 the opportunity of speaking to the people in a simple and 
 recognized way. The chief purpose of the synagogue was 
 instruction in the law, and this was not left in the hands of 
 officials only. Freedom of speech, under certain reasonable 
 conditions, was allowed, and any one, especially a rabbi, might 
 be called on by the ' ruler of the synagogue ' to expound. As 
 an institution it belongs probably to the period of the Exile. 
 It fulfilled certain objects which were not otherwise provided 
 for. It acted as a ' counterpoise to the absolute officialism of the 
 sacerdotal service ' (Morrison ). Its services were very different from 
 those of the Temple, consisting of prayer, the reading of the O. T., 
 and exposition. Mark speaks of ' the synagogue' (so also Luke 
 vii. 5), either because it was the only one (and Capernaum though 
 large enough to be called a city, might yet not be very large), or 
 because it was the one specially associated with Jesus. Luke 
 (vii. 5) tells us that the centurion whose servant Jesus was asked 
 to heal built a synagogue which the Jews of Capernaum speak 
 of as 'our synagogue.' Much of our Lord's early work took the 
 form of synagogue-teaching. Mark makes no mention of such 
 teaching after the occasion when those in * his own country' took 
 offence at the wisdom of his teaching in the synagogue (vi. 1-6). 
 
 22. And tbey were astonished. A strong word expressing 
 an amazement that carried them out of themselves. 
 
 at his teaching-. A better rendering than 'doctrine,' the 
 thing in view being the manner rather than the matter of his 
 exposition. 
 
 for he taught them as having authority. What amazed 
 
 K 
 
i 3 o ST. MARK 1. 23, 24 
 
 23 scribes. And straightway there was in their synagogue 
 
 24 a man with an unclean spirit ; and he cried out, saying. 
 What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? 
 
 them was not so much the things said as the way in which they 
 were said. Their professional teachers, when they opened up the 
 Law or the Prophets, spoke as those do who have no clear fountain 
 of knowledge in themselves and no inward witness to the truth 
 of what they asserted. They spoke with frequent appeal to 
 external authority, to the words of some great rabbi, to tradition, 
 dogmatically but not convincingly. But Christ spoke with the tone 
 of certitude, with the note of an inherent authority, as one who 
 had knowledge in himself and a message direct from God. His 
 words left the hearers in no doubt, and made themselves felt 
 at once as true. This was a new thing indeed to these Jews. 
 
 and not as the scribes : the ' scribes,' called also • lawyers,' 
 1 doctors of the law' (Luke v. 17), were the powerful body to 
 whom the Jews looked up as their recognized teachers, and with 
 whom our Lord consequently came into constant and deadly 
 conflict. They were the class who had built up, and who also 
 continued to expound and apply, that vast system of traditional 
 law which Jesus said • made void ' the word of God, and which 
 gave to the external and mechanical the place which belonged 
 to the spiritual. No doubt there were different kinds of scribes. 
 Among them there may have been men with better insight into 
 religion and the Divine law. But as a class they had become 
 in Christ's time pedantic, hair-splitting, dictatorial. 
 
 23. And straightway there was in their synagogue a man 
 with an unclean spirit. Mark proceeds to relate the mighty 
 work done in the place, and it is perhaps on account of this work 
 that he introduces what he says of the teaching in the synagogue. 
 A representative place is given by Mark to the healing of the 
 possessed. Luke describes this man as having 'a spirit of an 
 unclean devil.' Mark speaks of him as being * in (so the word 
 literally is) an unclean spirit ' — a phrase recalling those terms of 
 grace 'in Christ,' 'in the Spirit,' 'in the Holy Ghost.' But the 
 demon is also spoken of as in the man, and as coming out of him. 
 The words express the completeness of the hold which the malady 
 had of its victim. It was as if man and demon had become one, 
 the one absorbed in the other. In the N. T. ' unclean spirit' and 
 * demon ' are interchangeable terms. 
 
 and he cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, 
 thou Jesus of Nazareth? The spirit is represented as sensible 
 at once of the incongruity of Christ's presence. What is there, 
 he asks, in common to us and thee, so that thou shouldst come here 
 and have aught to do with us ? 
 
ST. MARK 1. 25-27 131 
 
 art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou 
 art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, 25 
 saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And 26 
 the unclean spirit, tearing him and crying with a loud 
 voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, 27 
 insomuch that they questioned among themselves, say- 
 ing, What is this ? a new teaching ! with authority he 
 
 art thou come to destroy us? The sense of incongruity 
 is also the sense of hostility ; to ' destroy the works of the devil ' 
 was the purpose of the sending of Messiah (1 John iii. 8). 
 
 I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. Once 
 again, and only once again, is this particular title given to Jesus 
 in the N. T., viz. in John vi. 69 (according to the best text and the 
 R. V.). But cf. also 1 John ii. 20; Rev. iii. 7, and in the O.T. 
 such a passage as Ps. cvi. 16 (of Aaron \ Here it may have the 
 force of a Messianic title. It does not appear that Jesus had as yet 
 either done or said aught affecting the case or disturbing the spirit. 
 His presence is enough ; it is at once recognized to be a power 
 inimical, before which evil can have no place. The term ' holy ' 
 here probably expresses not precisely his absolute personal sinless- 
 ness, but the broader idea of one who is consecrated wholly to God. 
 
 25. And Jesus rebuked him. The word is translated 'threatened' 
 by Wycliffe, following the Vulgate. In the N. T. it occurs only in 
 the Synoptists (with the exception of 2 Tim. v. 2 ; Jude 9), and 
 has the sense of chiding, rating, charging sharply. 
 
 saying 1 , Hold thy peace, and come out of him. The word 
 rendered ' hold thy peace ' means literally ' be muzzled,' as it 
 is used in 1 Cor. ix. 9 ; 1 Tim. v. 18. It is a strong figure of 
 enforced silence. The rebuke is directed against two things — the 
 outcry (with all that it meant) and 'the invasion of the man's 
 spirit by an alien power ' (Swete,\ 
 
 26. And the unclean spirit, tearing- him and crying' with 
 a loud voiee, came out of him. The charge was instantly obeyed, 
 yet not without hurt. The spirit tore, or rather convulsed the 
 sufferer. The word means to tear in a literal sense, to lacerate, 
 but also to throw into convulsions. 
 
 27. And they were all amazed. The effect on the people is 
 expressed here by a verb which is used in the N. T. only by Mark, 
 and which conveys the idea of astonishment passing into awe. 
 
 insomuch that they questioned among themselves. They 
 could not take the matter in, but turned to each other with per- 
 plexed and agitated words. 
 
 saying, What is this? a new teaching! A picture of 
 
 K 2 
 
132 ST. MARK 1. 28, 29 
 
 commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey 
 
 28 him. And the report of him went out straightway 
 everywhere into all the region of Galilee round about. 
 
 29 And straightway, when they were come out of the 
 synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and 
 
 amazement breaking into excited exclamation — far better given by 
 the R. V. than by the A. V. It is the unwonted style of teaching 
 that first astonishes them. 
 
 with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits. 
 But they have a second reason for their amazement — the authority 
 of his word. This, too, was something new. The practice of the 
 exorcist was not unknown among the Jews of these times (cf. 
 Acts xix. 13). But he worked painfully by magical incantations 
 or laboured formulae. Here was one who used no such arts, but 
 simply spoke, and it was done. 
 
 and they obey him. ' Yes, and they obey him ! ' Here was 
 the wonder — the instant response. 
 
 28. into all the region of Galilee. The fame of this great 
 work spread like wildfire far beyond the immediate scene. How 
 far ? The words may mean either ' into all the surrounding district 
 of Galilee' (Wycliffe, the Vulgate, &c), or 'into all the country 
 bordering on Galilee' (Tyndale, Meyer, &c). The latter is more 
 in accordance with usage and also with Matthew's statement that 
 ' the report of him went forth into all Syria ' (iv. 24). Luke gives 
 * into every place of the region round about ' (iv. 37). 
 
 The problem presented by cases like this of the man in the 
 synagogue is yet unsolved. Lunacy and epilepsy were common 
 diseases in the East, and the phenomena described here and in 
 similar instances resemble those exhibited by known diseases 
 of a mental or physical kind. Hence it is argued that what we 
 have here is simply an example of the Eastern way of attributing 
 abnormal experiences and extraordinary disorders to supernatural 
 causes, and that nothing more is meant than what we should call 
 fits of epilepsy or onsets of fierce lunacy. Modern inquiry, 
 however, tends to see greater mysteries than before in certain 
 forms of psychical ailment, and in some of the cases recorded in 
 the gospels there is the peculiar feature of the recognition of Jesus 
 as the Messiah. 
 
 i. 29-31. The healing of Peter s mother-in-law, cf. Matt. viii. 14, 
 15 ; Luke iv. 38, 39. 
 
 29. And straightway. Miracle follows upon miracle, without 
 pause and without the loss of any opportunity. 
 
 the house of Simon and Andrew. From the synagogue the 
 
ST. MARK 1. 30-32 133 
 
 Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's wife's 30 
 mother lay sick of a fever; and straightway they tell 
 him of her : and he came and took her by the hand, 3 1 
 and raised her up ; and the fever left her, and she 
 ministered unto them. 
 
 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto 32 
 him all that were sick, and them that were possessed 
 
 company returned to the house from which they had gone forth. 
 Matthew and Luke speak of it as the house only of Simon or Peter. 
 Mark calls it ■ the house of Simon and Andrew.' As Simon was 
 a married man, the house may have been his, while his brother 
 dwelt with him. With these are named also James and John, so 
 that there were four witnesses of the scene. 
 
 30. Now Simon's wife's mother. The first of the miracles, 
 therefore, that followed the great representative deed in the 
 synagogue was one wrought on a sufferer closely connected with 
 one of the first disciples. 
 
 lay sick of a fever. She was prostrate with this ailment when 
 they returned. Luke gives a more professional description of it — 
 ' holden with a great fever' (R. V.). Malarial fever, travellers 
 tell us, is rife even in the present day in the plain in which 
 Capernaum was situated. 
 
 and straightway they tell him of her. They had waited 
 for his return, it seems, and at once appeal to him when he 
 appears. 
 
 31. and he came and took her by the hand, and raised her 
 up : so prompt was his response, and so simple his act. 
 
 and the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 
 The cure was complete. There was nothing of the lassitude and 
 incapacity of ordinary convalescence. The patient was able at 
 once to go about her ordinary domestic duties. She spread her board, 
 probably the usual sabbath meal, and the company partook. We 
 read of her as at a later period accompanying Peter on his apostolic 
 journeys (i Cor. ix. 5). 
 
 i. 32-34. A cluster of miracles of healing ; cf. Matt. viii. 16, 17; 
 Luke iv. 40, 41. 
 
 32. And at even, when the sun did set. The people have been 
 keeping themselves in check till all risk of infringing the sabbath 
 law is past. The setting sun makes them certain that the sabbath 
 is ended. Throwing off all restraint they now crowd about him 
 with their sick of many kinds. 
 
 and them that were possessed with devils. Rather ' with 
 demons.' The word 'demon' represents the Greek daimon — 
 
134 ST. MARK 1. 3 3-35 
 
 33 with devils. And all the city was gathered together at 
 
 34 the door. And he healed many that were sick with 
 divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and he 
 suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. 
 
 35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose 
 up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and 
 
 a term with an interesting history. In the Homeric poems it 
 usually means a god. Very early, however, a distinction was 
 drawn between gods and demons, the latter being understood (as 
 in the poems of Hesiod) to be beings between gods and men, 
 ' invisible tenants of earth,' the souls of men of the happy golden 
 age. Other Greek writers applied the term to the ghosts of the 
 men of the silver age — a race contemptuous of the gods. Thus it 
 came to have a sinister meaning. It was when it had this idea of 
 an evil being contrasting with the gods that it was taken over by 
 the Greek-speaking Jews. So in the N. T., in the diminutive form 
 daimonion, it means in most cases an evil spirit, the agent of the 
 devil. 
 
 33. And all the city was gathered tog-ether at the door. A 
 picture of ' the flocking up to the door which preceded, and the 
 surging, moving mass before it ' (Swete). 
 
 34. And he healed many that were sick with divers diseases, 
 and cast out many devils (demons). As Mark puts it, he healed 
 many of both classes of sufferers. Matthew (and Luke also in 
 effect) speaks of all the sick and many of the possessed. The 
 idea probably is that he patiently healed all who were brought to 
 him of whatever class. 
 
 and he suffered not the devils (demons') to speak, because 
 they knew him. Some of the best manuscripts add l to be the 
 Christ ' ; cf. Luke iv. 41. The Evangelist sees the supernatural, 
 therefore, in the case. It is the recognition of the Messiahship of 
 Jesus, not necessarily of more. Jesus put the ban upon their 
 utterance. He would not have his cause hastened or influenced 
 by such testimony. 
 
 i. 35-39. Retirement, followed by his first circuit in Galilee; cf. 
 Luke iv. 40-42, also Matt. iv. 23-25. The healer who had met 
 the appeals of multitudes is himself seen now in the attitude of 
 a suppliant. In solitary communion with his Father he seeks 
 what he needs after the exertions and excitement of the first two 
 days of his ministry. 
 
 35. And in the morning, a great while before day. So early 
 that it was yet quite dark. 
 
 into a desert place. Not merely a solitary place (A. V.), 
 
ST. MARK 1. 36-39 135 
 
 there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him 36 
 followed after him ; and they found him, and say unto 37 
 him, All are seeking thee. And he saith unto them, 3S 
 Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may 
 preach there also ; for to this end came I forth. And 39 
 he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, 
 preaching and casting out devils. 
 
 but a desert place, ' probably one of those bare and barren spots 
 stretching away north and west of Capernaum ' (Morrison). 
 
 and there prayed. This was the reason of his withdrawal, 
 and no doubt also of his choice of such a place. He required rest 
 for his soul, opportunity for reflection on his mission, preparation 
 for the work now before him, which might be next day and the 
 next as it had been these two days. 
 
 36. And Simon and they that were with him followed after 
 him. They were filled with anxiety when they found him gone 
 they knew not whither. Could he have left them for others, or 
 have preferred some other place as the scene of his ministry ? 
 They shewed their anxiety by the haste with which they followed 
 after him. The word is a strong one — ' they pursued after him.' 
 
 37. and say unto him, All are seeking thee. The anxiety 
 was not confined to the disciples. It was shared by all who were 
 on the spot from Capernaum or elsewhere. Luke says explicitly 
 that ' the people,' the mob, sought him. If he left them it was 
 not that they did not need him or that he had no opportunity 
 among them. 
 
 38. Let ns go elsewhere. In his reply to their appeal and ex- 
 postulation he says nothing of his own need of rest or communion 
 with God. He speaks only of his mission, and of that as one not 
 limited to one place, even were it Capernaum. 
 
 into the next towns: lit. 'village-towns,' probably small 
 country towns, whether walled or not, intermediate between villages 
 and cities. Josephus speaks of the thickly planted towns and 
 the multitude of populous villages in Galilee (Jewish lVar,lll iii.2) 
 
 came I forth. This wider preaching, he says, was the 
 object of his coming forth. This may refer simply to his having 
 left Capernaum and its immediate vicinity. Interpreted, however, 
 in the light of John's use of the term (c£ viii. 42, xiii. 3), it will 
 point rather to his mission from the Father. 
 
 39. And he went into their synagogues . . , casting out 
 devils ^demons). His words had their effect on Simon and the 
 others. Thus did he begin his first circuit of Galilee, still making his 
 ministry, however, a synagogue ministry. 
 
136 ST. MARK 1. 40, 41 
 
 40 And there cometh to him a leper, beseeching him, 
 and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If 
 
 41 thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And being 
 
 i. 40-45. The case of a leper. Cf. Matt. viii. 2-4 ; Luke v. 12-16. 
 Leprosy appears to have been a somewhat common disease among 
 the Jews (Luke iv. 27). In the O. T. it is mentioned first in con- 
 nexion with the signs by which Moses was to establish his Divine 
 commission (Exod. iv. 6) ; then in the cases of Miriam, Naaman, 
 Gehazi, Uzziah, the lepers of Samaria (2 Kings vii. 3), and 
 others. It was the subject of minute regulations in the Levitical 
 law (Lev. xiii), in -which perhaps seven distinct varieties of the 
 disease are recognized. In the N. T. three cases are reported — 
 the man healed here by the touch and will of Jesus, the ten lepers 
 at the village (Luke xviii. 12), and Simon the leper (Matt. xxvi. 7 ; 
 Mark xiv. 3). These, however, are only selected instances ; cf. 
 Matt. x. 8, xi. 5 ; Luke vii. 22. What this leprosy exactly was, 
 however, is difficult to determine. The disposition is to dis- 
 tinguish between the leprosy of which we read in the Bible and 
 the disease known by the same name in ancient and also in 
 modern times. The latter, which at least in one of its forms may 
 be identified with elephantiasis, is one of the most terrible maladies 
 of which flesh is heir — a very old disease, known in India at least 
 as far back as 1400 B.C., and in Egypt since 1550 B.C., which got 
 into England before the times of the Crusades and lingers still in 
 considerable parts of Europe as well as in the far East. The 
 former is supposed to have been a skin-disease sufficiently loathsome 
 but less terrible than the other. The name leprosy may have been 
 given, as appears probable, to a whole class of diseases with 
 which uncleanness was associated. So its removal is described 
 in the N. T. as a cleansing. The ailment in view in most, if not 
 all, of the biblical passages, may perhaps have been a skin-disease 
 known as psoriasis, which was offensive and distressing, but not 
 by any means incurable. 
 
 40. And there cometh to him a leper. This case is selected 
 for record either because it was the first of its class, or because of 
 the impression it made and the change it occasioned in our Lord's 
 method (cf. i. 45). Luke brings it in after the Draught of Fishes, 
 Matthew after the Sermon on the Mount. Luke speaks of the 
 man as ' full of leprosy * — one in whom the disease reigned from 
 head to foot. 
 
 beseeching him, and kneeling" down to him. Matthew tells 
 us that he ' worshipped him ' ; Luke that he ' fell on his face.' 
 Neither Matthew nor Mark mentions whence he came. Luke says 
 ' out of one of the cities.' The man's faith in the power of Jesus 
 is the notable thing. 
 
 If thou wilt. He had no doubt of his ability. He was not 
 
ST. MARK 1. 4:1-44 137 
 
 moved with compassion, he stretched forth his hand, 
 and touched him, and saith unto him, I will ; be thou 
 made clean. And straightway the leprosy departed from 42 
 him, and he was made clean. And he strictly charged 43 
 him, and straightway sent him out, and saith unto him, 44 
 See thou say nothing to any man : but go thy way, shew 
 thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the 
 things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto 
 
 so sure that it came within the range of his purpose or mission to 
 concern himself with the outcast class of lepers. His doubt was 
 speedily and mercifully removed. 
 
 41. moved with compassion. Leprosy provoked feelings of 
 repulsion, not of sympathy. The man had come near, in spite 
 of the Levitical restrictions, near enough to be reached ; and 
 Jesus, disregarding the physical loathsomeness and the ceremo- 
 nial uncleanness, stretched forth his hand, and touched him. 
 The touch was what was needed to assure the man in his great 
 faith. Jesus, therefore, first touched him and then spoke the 
 healing word. And the result was the instantaneous departure 
 of the leprosy. 
 
 43, 44. strictly charged him. The expression is a very 
 strong and picturesque one, used of the \ muttering of chafed and 
 fretted animals,' and conveying here a certain note of severity. 
 
 and straightway sent him out, and saith unto him, See 
 thou say nothing to any man. Why this immediate dismissal, 
 with so strong an injunction to silence ? Because, if the man were 
 demonstrative, he might be the occasion of creating a dangerous 
 popular enthusiasm among the people, and of increasing the kind 
 of fame which Jesus saw himself to be acquiring — a fame which 
 had more regard to the physical side of his work than to the 
 spiritual, and which might prejudice his proper course. 
 
 shew thyself to the priest. The cure was not perfectly 
 complete till the ceremonial disability and the social ban were 
 removed. This was done by the priest, to whom it belonged to 
 pronounce one clean or unclean. See Lev. xiii, xiv. 
 
 offer for thy cleansing the things which Moses com- 
 manded. The man was not to disregard the Hebrew law, but 
 to seek the ceremonial purification in the way which it prescribed 
 (Lev. xiv. 1-32). 
 
 for a testimony unto them. To whom ? To the people 
 generally? Hardly so, for it was not his object that they should 
 then know all about it. To the priests ? Probably, for the work 
 
138 ST. MARK 1. 45— 2. 2 
 
 45 them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, 
 and to spread abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus 
 could no more openly enter into a city, but was 
 without in desert places : and they came to him from 
 every quarter. 
 
 2 And when he entered again into Capernaum after 
 some days, it was noised that he was in the house. 
 
 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was 
 no longer room for them y no, not even about the door : 
 
 would be a witness to them that a Prophet, perhaps Messiah 
 himself, was among them. 
 
 and began to publish it much. The man obeyed the 
 injunction only so far. He ' went out' indeed, but was loquacious 
 and demonstrative instead of silent. The result was that the 
 Healer's work was interfered with ; he could no more preach 
 in towns, but had to betake himself to 'desert places.' Even 
 there the people kept coming to him. 
 
 ii. 1-12. The incident of the Paralytic Cf. Mark ix. 1-8; Luke 
 v. 17-26. The event recorded in this paragraph has an important 
 position in the narrative. It marks the point at which Jesus 
 began to encounter opposition. So far his deeds and words had 
 won a quick response from the people. His popularity was great, 
 but it did not rest on a true recognition of what he was, and 
 it came in the way of his intended course. From this time he 
 has to face a series of collisions. 
 
 1. And when he entered again into Capernaum. The 
 heady enthusiasm of the restored leper makes it necessary for 
 him to change his plan. He has to bring the brief circuit among 
 the Galilean synagogues to an end, and comes back to Capernaum. 
 Luke agrees with Mark in introducing this narrative immediately 
 after that of the leper. Matthew speaks of Jesus as coming to 
 Capernaum from the other side of the lake. 
 
 it was noised that he was in the house : or better, indoors, 
 at home. It is not said where, but probably it was in Simon's 
 house. 
 
 3. no longer room for them, no, not even about the door. 
 Mark's description of the eagerness of the people, still under the 
 spell of his person and work, is very graphic. He lets us see 
 the excited crowds hurrying to the house at the news, pressing 
 in with the freedom which is allowed only in the East, filling the 
 room in a trice, and hanging outside about the door (which no 
 
ST. MARK 2. 3-5 *39 
 
 and he spake the word unto them. And they come, 3 
 bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of 
 four. And when they could not come nigh unto him 4 
 for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was : 
 and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed 
 whereon the sick of the palsy lay. And Jesus seeing 5 
 their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins 
 
 doubt opened direct upon the street) with neck outstretched and 
 ear intent. 
 
 spake the word: a better rendering than ' preached the 
 word.' Jesus was in a private room, not in the synagogue, and 
 was speaking simply and informally. 
 
 3. And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the 
 palsy : or a paralytic. Here is a fresh excitement, creating the 
 expectation of further wonders. 
 
 borne of four : that is, on a light pallet or mattress carried 
 by two pairs of bearers. The number of bearers is given only 
 by Mark. 
 
 4. they uncovered the roof : lit. 1 they unroofed the roof.' The 
 roof of a house in Palestine was easily reached by an outer 
 staircase or ladder. 
 
 and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed. 
 How is this to be understood ? Some think that there was an 
 awning over the open court, which had only to be lifted, others 
 that there was a gallery or verandah running along the second 
 story, a part of which was removed. But the phrase f broken it up' 
 is a strong one meaning * dug it out/ which suggests something 
 different, and in all probability the house was one of the modest, 
 single-storied cottages suitable for humble folk. The roof of 
 a Jewish house of this kind might consist of beams covered with 
 poles and brushwood and overlaid with earth and gravel. It might 
 be possible, therefore, to break it up, and let the man down 
 through it. 
 
 5. And Jesus seeing their faith. It was the faith of the 
 paralytic's friends (nothing is said of the sufferer's own faith) that 
 attracted the notice of Jesus— a faith so ardent, persevering, 
 expectant. 
 
 saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are for- 
 given. ' Son,' ' child,' a term used of a disciple, and a word of 
 encouragement to the sufferei Not ' be forgiven,' as in the A. V., 
 but ' are forgiven.' Jesus speaks first of forgiveness, and of that 
 as a thing accomplished, and only after that performs the cure. 
 What is the point of this? Not that he meant by the forgiveness 
 
140 ST. MARK 2. 6-9 
 
 6 are forgiven. But there were certain of the scribes 
 
 7 sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth 
 this man thus speak ? he blasphemeth : who can forgive 
 
 8 sins but one, even God ? And straightway Jesus, per- 
 ceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within them- 
 selves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in 
 
 9 your hearts ? Whether is easier, to say to the sick of 
 the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven ; or to say, Arise, and 
 
 only the cure itself, the relief of the man from the physical conse- 
 quences of 'some sin affecting the nervous organization' (Gould). 
 That fails to do justice to the force of the word used here, which 
 expresses the removal of guilt. Or it is that Jesus saw more than 
 the faith of the friends — the sense of sin in the heart of the 
 sufferer himself, deeper there than even his sense of the physical 
 malady ? The simpler explanation may be that Jesus acts in 
 accordance with Jewish ideas of forgiveness and restoration. 
 ' There is no sick man healed of his sickness,' said the Rabbis, 
 ' until all his sins have been forgiven him ' (Schottgen, cited 
 by Swete). 
 
 6. certain of the scribes sitting there : no doubt in the 
 place of honour. The scribes of these parts had been joined by 
 others from the south (cf. Luke v. 17). This is the first encounter 
 with this powerful class. 
 
 reasoning- in their hearts. They said nothing, but sat in 
 suspicious watchfulness, ready to catch at any word. 
 
 7. Why doth... thus speak? he blasphemeth. The A. V. misses 
 the point here. What stimulated their evil thoughts now, as on 
 later occasions, was the claims he made. Here it was his claim 
 to forgive sin. He had not indeed asserted that in so many words. 
 He had simply said — ' Thy sins are forgiven thee.' But they read 
 that declaration as a claim for himself, and held it to be blasphemy, 
 that is to say, a kind of speech hurtful to the honour of God. 
 
 8. perceiving* in his spirit. The word 'perceiving' here 
 denotes complete, certain knowledge (cf, 1 Cor. xiii. 12), but 
 a knowledge ' in his spirit,' not gained by the senses. This 
 power of reading men's thoughts intuitively is recognized on other 
 occasions: see e. g. John ii. 24, 25, xxi. 17. 
 
 9. Whether is easier, to say ... or to say. He places two 
 declarations over against each other, not the acts themselves, but 
 the authoritative words, and asks them which is easier. The 
 word of healing might seem the Larder, as it had to deal with 
 visible effects, the failure of which would convict him. 
 
ST. MARK 2. 10-14 141 
 
 take up thy bed, and walk ? But that ye may know 10 
 that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins 
 (he saith to the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, 11 
 take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And he arose, 12 
 and straightway took up the bed, and went forth before 
 them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and 
 glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. 
 
 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the 13 
 multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And 14 
 as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting 
 
 10. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power 
 on earth to forgrive sins. 'Power' means authority here; and 
 ' on earth ' (as in contrast with the authority of God in heaven) 
 defines it as an authority committed to the Son of man. The 
 question was about forgiveness, a moral act implying authority. 
 They challenged his right to forgive sins. He brings the matter 
 at once to a test which they could understand, by asserting his 
 possession of another power. If open, unmistakable results 
 proved him to have that power, they could the less doubt his 
 authority in a region where claims could not be attested by visible 
 effects. 
 
 11. I say unto thee, Arise. He knew that, if he failed in 
 this, he would be discredited. Yet he falters not — sublime, calm 
 certitude ! 
 
 12. arose, and straightway took up the bed. The event 
 justified the assurance. The cure was immediate, thorough, and 
 open to every eye. The man went forth 'before them all,' and 
 all were moved profoundly, confessing the hand of God in the 
 event. In this the healed man himself led the way, as we gather 
 from Luke v. 25. 
 
 Here we have the first occurrence of the title * the Son of man ' 
 in Mark's Gospel. From this point we meet it often. As to its 
 import see under chap. ix. 12. 
 
 ii. 13-14. The call of Levi', cf. Matt. ix. 9-13 ; Luke v. 27-32. 
 An event of importance as regarded both our Lord's ministry and 
 the causes of offence with him. 
 
 13. taught them. Jesus now leaves Capernaum and betakes 
 himself again to the sea-side. There he resumes his teaching, 
 which had been interrupted. The interest of the people is as 
 great as ever. 
 
 14. Levi the son of Alpheeus. Who is this Levi ? Some 
 
142 ST. MARK 2. 15, 16 
 
 at the place of toll, and he saith unto him, Follow me. 
 
 15 And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, 
 that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many 
 publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his 
 disciples : for there were many, and they followed him. 
 
 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that 
 
 have taken him to be a different person from Matthew,while it has 
 also been conjectured that he may have been the supervisor, and 
 Matthew an officer under him. But it is most unlikely that there 
 should have been two men, solemnly called in the same way and 
 in the same place by Jesus, one becoming an apostle and the 
 other remaining quite unknown. Most are of opinion, therefore, 
 that Levi and Matthew are names of one and the same person. 
 Matthew, not Levi, is the name that occurs in the lists of the 
 Apostles. The mention of Alphmts has led some to regard him 
 as the brother of 'James the less." But he is not coupled with 
 that James in the lists of the Apostles, as Peter is with Andrew 
 and John with James. 
 
 sitting - at the place of toll. The Romans farmed out the 
 taxes to rich citizens, who emploj^ed agents to do the work of 
 collection. Levi was one of these subordinate, provincial custom- 
 house officers. Such agents were usually natives. Their task 
 was an odious one, and it lent itself readily to rapacity and 
 oppression. They had an evil reputation in all the provinces, 
 most of all perhaps in Palestine where the Roman yoke was 
 so hateful. Capernaum was an important custom-house station. 
 It is only in Matthew's list of the Apostles (chap. x. 3), that 
 Matthew is called ' the publican.' 
 
 14. followed him. For a man in Levi's place it meant more 
 to answer Christ's call than it did to Simon and his comrades. 
 They had an occupation which they could easily resume ; he was 
 in a less favourable position. 
 
 ii. 15-17. The feast in Levi's house; cf. Matt. x. 10-13; Luke 
 v. 29-32. Luke describes it as 'a great feast' — a reception, to 
 which Levi had invited many members of his own class. Jesus, 
 no doubt, was the most honoured guest. 
 
 15. in his house. Whose house? Levi's surely. Some say 
 the house of Jesus. But this would conflict with Luke's account, 
 and there is no reference elsewhere to our Lord having a house 
 of his own. 
 
 16. the scribes of the Pharisees. So in Acts xxiii. 9 we read 
 of ' scribes of the Pharisees' part,' i. e. those belonging to that 
 religious party. 
 
ST. MARK 2. 17-19 143 
 
 he was eating with the sinners and publicans, said unto 
 his disciples, He eateth and drinketh with publicans and 
 sinners. And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, 17 
 They that are whole have no need of a physician, but 
 they that are sick : I came not to call the righteous, but 
 sinners. 
 
 And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting : 18 
 and they come and say unto him, Why do John's 
 disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but 
 thy disciples fast not ? And Jesus said unto them, Can 19 
 
 with publicans and sinners. The word * publican,' which 
 means property the renter or farmer of the taxes, is used in the 
 N.T. of the subordinate collectors. 'Sinners' in this connexion 
 may not mean more than men not recognized by the official 
 religionists. That Jesus should associate with the class held 
 outcast by the strict Jews, and should even receive one of these 
 despised men into the circle of his intimate friends, was a second 
 cause of offence. Notice the first occurrence here of the name 
 * disciples ' of Jesus. 
 
 IV. not to call the righteous, but sinners. 'The philosophy, 
 in a nutshell, of all home and foreign missionary operations' 
 (Morrison). Jesus came to do a plvysician's part. If there were 
 any whole, the}' required him not ; if there were any really 
 righteous, the} 7 had no need of his call. 
 
 ii. 18-22. Questions of fasting, raised by observance of the fact that 
 the disciples of Jesus did not act as John's disciples and the Pharisees 
 did; cf. Matt. ix. 14-17; Luke v. 33-39. 
 
 18. John's disciples. The Baptist's followers, therefore, re- 
 mained a distinct party, with their own religious practice. 
 
 were fasting. Not 'used to fast' (A.V.), but were so 
 engaged then. Fasting had come to have a great importance 
 attached to it. In the law its observance was prescribed on the 
 great Day of Atonement. But the traditional law had added much 
 to the written law, and zealous Jews are said to have made the 
 second and fifth days of each week days of fasting. 
 
 they come. Who ? Some saj r the scribes, and the form of 
 the question favours this. But Matthew says, 'the disciples of 
 John/ and gives the question in terms including them with the 
 Pharisees. 
 
 thy disciples fast not. The suggestion is that either John's 
 disciples and the Pharisees did too much, or that Jesus did too 
 little in allowing his disciples to disregard fasting. 
 
144 ST. MARK 2. 20-22 
 
 the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom 
 is with them ? as long as they have the bridegroom with 
 
 20 them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when 
 the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then 
 
 21 will they fast in that day. No man seweth a piece of 
 undressed cloth on an old garment : else that which 
 should fill it up taketh from it, the new from the old, 
 
 22 and a worse rent is made. And no man putteth new 
 wine into old wine-skins •. else the wine will burst the 
 skins, and the wine perisheth, and the skins : but they 
 put new wine into fresh wine-skins. 
 
 19. sons of the bridechamber : the bridegroom's particular 
 friends, who attended to matters belonging to the marriage 
 ceremony. 
 
 cannot fast. It would not be in character for them to do so. 
 In later Judaism waiting on the bridegroom brought exemption, it 
 is said, from certain prescriptions of the traditional law. 
 
 20. the bridegroom. Thus Jesus indirectly applies to himself 
 the great figure by which O. T. prophecy (e. g. Hos. ii. 21) sets 
 forth Jehovah in His covenant relation to Israel. The same figure 
 was used by the Baptist (John iii. 29). 
 
 shall be taken away. The word is a strong one, expressing 
 violent removal. Preserved as it is by each of the three Synoptists, 
 it can with reason be taken as the genuine utterance of our Lord, 
 and it shews that already the thought of suffering and death was 
 in his mind. 
 
 then will they fast in that day. Times, therefore, differ 
 and observances with them. Fasting is not a necessary or con- 
 stant part of religious duty ; yet there may be occasions on which 
 it will be appropriate and helpful. 
 
 21. Wo man seweth ... a worse rent is made. A sentence 
 more difficult in form than in sense. What is in view is the fact 
 that new undressed cloth shrinks, and if used to mend old cloth, 
 is apt to break away and increase the rent it is meant to cover. 
 
 22. wine-skins. A better rendering than the ' bottles' of the 
 A. V. Wine-bottles in those days were skins. But skins wear 
 out and become thin by age ; and in that condition they are unable 
 to bear the strain put upon them by the inpouring of the ' young 
 wine,' the newly fermented wine of the season. 
 
 These homely comparisons, parables in germ, express how 
 mistaken it is to think of mixing up things which differ. A religion 
 of fasting is one thing ; the religion of Christ is another. To patch 
 
ST. MARK 2. 23-26 145 
 
 And it came to pass, that he was going on the sabbath -3 
 day through the cornfields ; and his disciples began, as 
 they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees 24 
 said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day 
 that which is not lawful ? And he said unto them, Did 25 
 ye never read what David did, when he had need, and 
 was an hungred, he, and they that were with him ? How 26 
 
 up the old religious system with the new, or to burden the new 
 with the old, is a thing at once incongruous and injurious. 
 
 ii. 23 28. The question of the Sabbath ; cf. Matt. xii. 1-8 ; Luke 
 vi. 1-5. Mark and Luke agree in the order in which they intro- 
 duce this incident. Matthew proceeds from the questions about 
 fasting to the case of the daughter of Jairus, and brings in the 
 present paragraph only after the record of the gracious words of 
 Jesus about his yoke and burden. Here Mark reports a fourth 
 cause of offence found with Jesus. He has noticed his claim to 
 forgive sin, his companying with publicans and sinners, his in- 
 difference to fasting. Now he instances the fault found with his 
 disregard of the conventional sabbath law. 
 
 23. the cornfields : literally sown lands ; no doubt in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Capernaum. 
 
 began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. In strict 
 grammatical usage the words would mean, as in the margin of the 
 R. V., ' began to make their way plucking.' The idea thus would 
 be that the corn had overgrown the path, and the disciples had to 
 open a way by plucking the ears, and the offence then would 
 be in the doing of a thing which it was not lawful to do on any 
 day. But this would not be consistent with the express state- 
 ment of Matthew, and it would take the point from what is 
 afterwards said about the hunger and the eating. Hence most 
 prefer the rendering of the A. V. and the R. V. texts. The offence 
 lies thus in doing on the sabbath day a thing which was lawful in 
 itself. 
 
 24. on the sabbath day that which is not lawful. The 
 Deuteronomic law had some simple prescriptions bearing on the 
 liberty to be taken with a neighbour's corn (Deut. xxiii. 25). 
 But the traditional law had gone far beyond these, and had made 
 plucking the corn equivalent to reaping it. But reaping on the 
 sabbath \w forbidden (Exod. xxxiv. 21). 
 
 25. Did ye never read? He refutes them out of their own 
 Scripture . .owing by the case of David and his hungry men, as 
 recorded in Sam. xxi. 1-6, how such restrictive regulations had 
 to give place to the higher requirements of necessity and mercy. 
 
146 ST. MARK 2. 27, 28 
 
 he entered into the house of God when Abiathar was 
 high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which it is not 
 lawful to eat save for the priests, and gave also to them 
 
 2 7 that were with him ? And he said unto them, The sab- 
 bath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath : 
 
 28 so that the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath. 
 
 26. the house of God : i. e. the tent of meeting pitched at that 
 period at Nob, a ' city of the priests' (1 Sam. xxii. 19), probably 
 the place also referred to in Neh. xi. 32 ; Isa. x. 32, not far from 
 Jerusalem, Anathoth, and Ramah. 
 
 when Abiathar was high priest : i. e. when he was actually 
 in office. But according to the narrative in 1 Sam. xxii. 11 
 Ahimelech was priest at the time. There seems to be some 
 confusion in the O. T. text. In 1 Sam. xxii. 20 Abiathar is 'one 
 of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub ' ; in 2 Sam. viii. 17 
 we have i Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar ' ; in 1 Sam. xiv. 3 wc 
 have ' Ahijah, the son of Ahitub ' ; in i Chron. xviii. 16 we have 
 1 Abimelech, the son of Abiathar.' 
 
 the shewbread. ' The bread of the setting-forth/ in the O. T. 
 ' the bread of the face ' or ' the presence ' (Exod. xxv. 30, xxxv. 
 13, xxxix. 36), called also ' the continual bread ' (Num. iv. 7), 
 'the holy bread' (1 Sam. xxi. 4-6). It consisted of twelve new- 
 baked loaves, placed every sabbath day on a table, in two rows 
 of six, sprinkled with incense, and left for the week. See its law 
 in Lev. xxiv. 5-9. A solemn rite (cf. e. g. 2 Chron. xiii. n), 
 yet one the meaning of which is not explained in the O. T. itself. 
 It is supposed by some to have been a symbol of a higher life than 
 that of the senses, a life of fellowship with God, requiring a special 
 spiritual nourishment. It may have been an acknowledgement 
 rather of God as Israel's Provider, an offering by the people of a 
 portion of their substance in token of their dependence on Jehovah, 
 and as witness of their covenant relation and duty (Lev. xxiv. 9). 
 
 2*7. The sabbath was made for man, net man for the sabbath. 
 The refutation of these Pharisees is carried now beyond the 
 witness of the O. T. narrative to the principle of the institution in 
 question. The sabbath is an ordinance of grace, meant to bring 
 man relief from toil and to be to him for good. It is his servant, 
 not his taskmaster. 
 
 lord even of the sabbath. The sabbath being meant for 
 man, and man not being intended to be its slave, the Representa- 
 tive Man, he in whom the Divine idea of man is embu'lied, is its 
 lord, not its servant, and his disciples, acting as such were free 
 of blame. 'Even of the sabbath,'— that is, a lordship which 
 extended over other things and did not stop short e v c*n of an 
 
ST. MARK 3. 1-3 147 
 
 And he entered again into the synagogue ; and there 3 
 was a man there which had his hand withered. And 2 
 they watched him, whether he would heal him on the 
 sabbath day ; that they might accuse him. And he 3 
 saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand 
 
 institution so sacred to the Jew as this. This lordship did not 
 imply the claim to abolish, but the authority to adapt and fulfil. 
 The real purpose of the sabbath law had been obscured and over- 
 laid by a mass of exasperating prescriptions. It is relieved and 
 reaffirmed. 
 
 iii. 1-6. Healing of a man with his hand withered; cf. Matt. xii. 
 9 if; Luke vi. 6-n. All three gospels place this incident in 
 immediate connexion with that of the plucking of the ears of corn 
 on the sabbath. It is probably introduced at this point in order 
 to set forth how Jesus regarded the sabbath law and what liberty 
 he asserted under it. This miracle is important as making the 
 fifth cause of offence with Jesus, and as being one of the seven 
 wrought on the sabbath. The others were in the cases of 
 the demoniac at Capernaum (Mark i. 21), Simon's wife's mother 
 (Mark i. 27), the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John v. 9) 
 the woman with the spirit of infirmity (Luke xiii. 14), the 
 dropsical man (Luke xiv. 1), the man born blind (John ix. 14). 
 
 1. into the synagogue. Jesus is, therefore, once more in 
 Capernaum, and in the place of worship. The time is not distinctly 
 indicated. The narratives of Matthew and Mark suggest the 
 sabbath immediately following the one on which the plucking 
 of the ears of corn took place. But Luke says simply ' another 
 sabbath.' 
 
 his hand withered. A better rendering than the 'having 
 a withered hand ' of the A. V. The phrase suggests that the man 
 was not in this condition by birth, but had become so by injury 
 or disease. Luke, the physician, notes that it was the right hand. 
 It was a case of hand-paralysis or atrophy. Tradition spoke 
 of the man as a bricklayer, who asked to be cured that he might 
 be able to work for his support. 
 
 2. watched him. The word implies minute observation, here 
 evidently with fell intent. The traditional law allowed the giving 
 of relief only when life was in danger. In a case like the present 
 there was no immediate danger, and it was a breach of the law, 
 therefore, according to the scribes, to do anything for the cure 
 of the sufferer until the sabbath was over. These jealous watchers 
 seem to have expected Jesus to act. 
 
 3. Stand forth. 'Rise and come into the midst.' Jesus sets 
 about his healing work in a peculiarly public and formal way. 
 
 L 2 
 
143 ST. MARK 3. 4,5 
 
 4 forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the 
 sabbath day to do good, or to do harm ? to save a life, 
 
 5 or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he 
 had looked round about on them with anger, being 
 grieved at the hardening of their heart, he saith unto 
 the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it 
 
 He would have all men see it, as it was to be a test of his action 
 and of his attitude to the sabbath. 
 
 4. And he saith unto them. From this we should infer that 
 .. Jesus was himself the challenger. But according to Matthew the 
 
 Pharisees took the initiative. Luke tells us that Jesus f knew 
 their thoughts,' and questioned them. 
 
 to do good, or to do harm. The words may mean simply 
 ' to act rightly or to act wrongly , (cf. 1 Pet. ii. 15, 20). The point 
 of the question then would be — ' Would they say that it could ever 
 be unlawful, on sabbath day any more than on week day, to act 
 rightly?' The terms, however, may also mean 'to do one a service 
 or to do one a wrong'; and this is the sense here, as appears from the 
 explanatory words, l to save a life or to kill.' Matthew introduces 
 here Christ's words about the sheep fallen into a pit, in which 
 he appeals to their own practice. The law did not prohibit 
 beneficent work on the sabbath ; even under the traditional law 
 allowances were made, as their own acts shewed. 
 
 5. held their peace. Only Mark notices this. 
 
 looked round about. An expressive word used some half- 
 dozen times by Mark (iii. 5, 34, v. 32, ix. 8, x. 23, xi. n), and 
 mostly of ' the quick searching glance round the circle of his 
 friends or enemies, which Peter remembered as characteristic of 
 the Lord ' (Swete). 
 
 with anger, heing grieved. Christ as true man had the 
 normal feelings, emotions, and susceptibilities of man — wrath no 
 less than grief. Anger, as righteous indignation against wrong, 
 is an essential element in the moral nature of man. Plato gave 
 it an integral place in man. Butler held it necessary as the 
 balance of pity. The N. T. recognizes an anger that is legitimate, 
 although in human nature as it is, wrath is all too apt to pass 
 beyond the limits of the lawful (cf. Eph. iv. 26). 
 
 at the hardening of their heart. The word denotes the 
 making of a callus, the substance that unites the ends of a fractured 
 bone, and so the process of hardening into insensibility to truth. 
 Here it is the hardening of mind rather than of feeling that 
 seems particularly in view. The 'heart,' in Hebrew ideas, w 
 the seat of the thoughts. 
 
 Stretch forth thy hand. On this occasion Jesus used no 
 
ST. MARK 3. 6, 7 149 
 
 forth : and his hand was restored. And the Pharisees 6 
 went out, and straightway with the Herodians took 
 counsel against him, how they might destroy him. 
 
 And Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea : and 7 
 a great multitude from Galilee followed : and from Judaea, 
 
 means. He did not even touch the sufferer. The cure was 
 effected in a way that had nothing of the appearance of a work. 
 
 And he stretched it forth. The courage that made the 
 man stand forth was great. The faith that made him stretch forth 
 his dead hand, and attempt the apparently impossible, was greater 
 still. The cure followed at once ; compare the O. T. case of 
 Jeroboam (1 Kings xiii. 4). 
 
 6. went out, and straightway : mad with the sense of defeat, 
 to scheme revenge without delay. 
 
 with the Herodians. The word ' Herodians ' occurs only in 
 a few cases (Matt. xxii. 16 ; Mark iii. 6, xii. 13). They are 
 referred to indirectly also in Matt. viii. 15. We have no statement 
 about them in Josephus, or any writer of these times. They may 
 have been partisans of Antipas, or rather adherents of Herod the 
 Great ; in all probability a political rather than a religious party, 
 favouring the Roman government and following a policy of com- 
 promise between strict Judaism and the new ideas. 
 
 took counsel. The word indicates something of a consultation, 
 though an informal one. It points to something more than had 
 yet been done, though not as yet to the deliberate action of an 
 official body. Between Pharisees and Herodians there could be 
 no natural sympathy. Opposition to this Disturber of the existing 
 condition of things brings them together. 
 
 iii. 7-12. Growing popularity in Galilee, despite the antagonism 
 of the classes; cf. Matt. xii. 15-21. The two narratives agree in 
 reporting the withdrawal of Jesus, the numerous following, the 
 works of healing, and the injunction to silence. Mark gives more 
 detail, while Matthew adds the fulfilment of prophecy. 
 
 *I. withdrew to the sea: with a view to safety. Matthew in- 
 dicates that it was when he knew of the counsel taken against 
 him that Jesus left Capernaum and turned again to the Sea of 
 Galilee. 
 
 a great multitude . . . followed. Mark brings out not only 
 the largeness of the following, but also (which Matthew does not 
 give) the wide extent and variety of the territory represented. 
 People were attracted not only from Galilee, but from Judaea and 
 Jerusalem and Idumaea in the south, from Peraea in the east, and 
 
 im the parts about Tyre and Sidon in the north-west. 
 
i 5 o ST. MARK 3. 8-12 
 
 S and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and beyond 
 
 Jordan, and about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, 
 
 9 hearing what great things he did, came unto him. And 
 
 he spake to his disciples, that a little boat should wait 
 
 on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng 
 
 10 him: for he had healed many; insomuch that as many 
 
 , as had plagues pressed upon him that they might touch 
 
 n him. And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld 
 
 him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art 
 
 1 2 the Son of God. And he charged them much that they 
 
 should not make him known. 
 
 8. Idumaea : the Edom of the O. T., mentioned also by the 
 name Idumaea in Isa. xxxiv. 5, 6 (A. V. : Edom in R.V.) ; Ezek. 
 xxxv. 15, xxxvi. 5 (A. V. : Edom in R. V.). This is its only 
 occurrence in the N.T. It denotes the territory occupied by 
 the descendants of Esau, originally Mount Seir, but, after the 
 Exile, part of Southern Palestine. By our Lord's time the people 
 were practically included in the Jewish nation (Herod the Great 
 was an Idumsean), and Idumaea made part of Judaea. 
 
 from . . . beyond Jordan : that is, Peraea, the district to the east 
 of the Jordan, lying mostly between the Arnon and the Jabbok. 
 
 about Tyre and Sidon : that is, the Phoenician sea-coast, the 
 north-west territory termed Phenice in Acts (xi. 19, xv. 3, xxi. 2). 
 
 9. a little boat should wait on him. The boat was to be in 
 ^ constant attendance, and was to take the place which the synagogue 
 
 had had hitherto as the chief scene of his teaching. 
 
 10. plagues: lit. 'scourges/ i. e. torturing maladies. 
 pressed : lit. ' fell ' on him — a picture, in a word, of the eager, 
 
 excited impetuosity of the people, which was like to crush him. 
 They believed that if they but touched him they would experience 
 the healing power. 
 
 11. unclean spirits: or 'demons,' that is, the sufferers 
 possessed by such. 
 
 whensoever : ' as often as,' or it may be ' so soon as.* 
 
 fell down : rather, ' would fall down,' that is in homage. 
 
 The first recorded occasion of that. 
 
 the Son of God. Here probably as meaning the Messiah : a 
 
 more definite title, however, than the previous ' the Holy One 
 
 of God ' (i. 23). 
 
 12. he charg-ed them much. Why? Because, as Bengel puts 
 - it, ' neither was this the time nor were those the preachers.' 
 
ST. MARK 3. 13-17 151 
 
 And he goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto i?, 
 him whom he himself would : and they went unto him. 
 And he appointed t\\ that they might be with him, 14 
 
 and that he might send them forth to preach, and to 15 
 have authority to cast out devils : and Simon he surnamed 16 
 Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the 17 
 
 iii. 13-19. The choice of t/u Twelve. An event that makes^ 
 a great epoch in the ministry of Jesus. All the three Synoptists 
 record it and attach the same importance to it, although the}' do 
 not all introduce it in precisely the same connexion ; cf. Matt. x. 
 2-4, Luke vi. 12-16. The a k of Jesus was growing on his 
 hand, the feeling of the common people was with him, there was 
 much to do for them and among them, and at the same time 
 the hostility of the classes was taking shape. He had crowds 
 following him, and a certain number of disciples more particularly 
 attached to him. But the time had come when there was need 
 of a body of adherents more closely and officially connected with 
 him, to be with him regularly and to do certain work for him. 
 
 13. g-oeth up into the mountain. One of the hills above the 
 lake, and one with which he was familiar. Luke tells us that Jesus 
 went there to pray, and that he continued in praj T er all night. 
 Thus did he prepare for the important act of the ordination. 
 
 calleth unto him whom he himself would. The election 
 took place, Luke tells us, at the break of daj r , as Jesus came fresh 
 from the night of communion with God. 
 
 14. And he appointed twelve. The election was a twofold 
 one. First he called to him a certain number out of the whole 
 body of his followers, and then from these he chose twelve— with 
 reference no doubt to the twelve tribes. 
 
 that they might be with him. The Twelve were chosen ^ 
 for two great purposes, The first was that they might be his 
 stated associates. 
 
 send them forth. The second purpose was that they should 
 act as his messengers or delegates. 
 
 to preach: this was their primary duty, the proclamation of 
 the good news of the kingdom. 
 
 15. authority to cast out devils : (' demons '). Matthew adds 
 the power of healing. This authority was to be connected with 
 the higher duty of preaching, to further it and attest their 
 commission. 
 
 16. Simon he surnamed Peter. Four lists of the Apostles 
 are given (Matt, x, Mark iii, Luke vi, Acts i). In each case the list ^ 
 falis into three groups of four names, having Peter, Philip, John, 
 and James the son of Alphaeus respectively at the head. Fach list 
 
152 ST. MARK 3. is, i 9 
 
 brother of James ; and them he siirnamed Boanerges, 
 
 1 8 which is, Sons of thunder: an*] Andrew, and Philip, 
 and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James 
 the son of Alphoeus, and Thaddseus, and Simon the 
 
 19 Canana^an, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed 
 him. 
 
 "vbegins with Peter and ends with the traitor. The new name 
 Peter, Hebrew Cephas = Rock, expressed what he was to be to 
 the Church in worth or in official position. John (i. 48) speaks 
 of it as given on the occasion of Simon's first call. It may have 
 been renewed or given with more specific distinction now. 
 
 17. Boanerges, explained as 'sons of thunder.' But for what 
 reason the title was given is left untold. It may point to the 
 ardent temper which shewed itself on certain occasions (cf. Mark 
 ix. 38 ; Luke ix. 54). There is nothing in the Gospels or elsewhere 
 in the N.T. to shew that this name, though given by Jesus 
 himself, persisted. It is no more mentioned. 
 
 18. Andrew, and Philip: men of Bethsaida, mentioned together 
 in John xii. 22. Philip is not introduced again in the narrative 
 of the first three gospels. 
 
 Bartholomew : that is, ' son of Tolmai.' He is taken to be the 
 same as Nathanael — for this among other reasons, that John 
 mentions Nathanael twice but never Bartholomew, while the 
 other evangelists speak of Bartholomew and not of Nathanael. 
 
 Thomas. Of him we see more in the Fourth Gospel (xi. 16, 
 xiv. 5, xx. 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, xxi. 2). 
 
 James the son of Alphsens. In distinction from James, 
 son of Zebedee, and probably the same as ' James the less ' or 
 ' the little,' son of Mary and brother of Joses. 
 
 Thaddaeus. Probably the same as Lebbaeus, and also as Judas 
 the son or brother of James, the head of the church of Jerusalem. 
 
 the Cananaean : not the 'Canaanite' nor 'the man of Cana,' 
 but l the Cananaean' or ( the zealot ' (cf. Luke vi. 15V He may have 
 been of the party known as the Zealots, a fanatical patriotic party, 
 fiercely opposed to foreign domination. Or the name may indicate 
 simply the disposition of the man, his jealousy for the cause which 
 he espoused. 
 
 19. Iscariot: that is, 'the man of Kerioth.' But where this 
 Kerioth was is uncertain. A Kerioth-hezron is mentioned in 
 Joshua xv. 25. If Judas belonged to it, he would be a native of 
 Judaea, and the only one among the Twelve that was a Judaean. 
 A Kerioth in Moab is also referred to in Jer. xlviii. 24, 41. If this 
 were the place in view Judas would belong to the district east of the 
 Dead Sea. In most cases the name of this Judas is coupled v ith 
 
ST. MARK 3. 20-23 153 
 
 And he cometh into a house. And the multitude 20 
 cometh together again, so that they could not so much 
 as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went 2 1 
 out to lay hold on him : for they said, He is beside 
 himself. And the scribes which came down from Jeru- 22 
 salem said, He hath Beelzebub, and, By the prince of 
 the devils casteth he out the devils. And he called them 23 
 
 the terrible note of his treacherj' (Matt. x. 4; Luke vii. 16; John 
 xii. 4, xviii. 2, 5 ; Acts i. 16). 
 
 into a house : or, as it may be, home, and so to Capernaum. 
 
 iii. 20, 21. Intervention of the Friends 0/ Jesus. A short para- 
 graph, given only by Mark. At this point Luke introduces the 
 Sermon on the Plain. 
 
 20. not so much as eat bread. A graphic touch, recalling the 
 actual scene — the crowd gathering as eagerly and tumultuously 
 as before, and taking complete possession of him, so that he had 
 no opportunity even to take food of any kind. 
 
 21. friends. Probably, as suggested by the 'went out,' his 
 relatives. His mother and his brethren had come in all likelihood 
 from Nazareth, anxious about him. 
 
 lay hold on him: to protect him from his own want of care %s r 
 and thought, as they deemed it. y^ 
 
 beside himself. They took his absorption in his strange 
 work as a sign of religious frenz} 7 . 
 
 iii. 22-30. Charge of working by Satanic Power : cf. Matt. xii. 
 22-45 5 Luke xi. 14-28. 
 
 22. scribes which came down from Jerusalem. Mark is 
 most definite here. Matthew speaks only of 'Pharisees,' and 
 Luke only of 'some of them.' Those in view were no doubt 
 scribes of the Pharisaic party. Matthew and Luke shew what led 
 to this accusation, viz. the healing of one 'possessed with a devil, 
 blind and iumb.' The people concluded that the Healer was the 
 Son of D iv'd. The scribes gave another explanation. 
 
 Beelzebub: rather, 'Beelzebul.' The former is the name 
 given to the god of Ekron (2 Kings i. 6), and is thought by some 
 to mean 'the god of flies.' The form Beelzebul is of doubtful 
 origi, Some take it to mean 'the lord of filth'; others make 
 it ' tli lord of the habitation,' whether as the god of the air 
 (Eph ii. 2) or as the god of the nether world. 
 
 By (or 'in') the prince of the devils ('demons'): cf. 
 John xiv. 30, xvi. 11 ; Eph. ii. 2. A poor and unknown man like 
 this, they thought, could not of himself do the works he tin- 
 
154 ST. MARK 3. 24-27 
 
 unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can 
 
 24 Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided 
 
 25 against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house 
 be divided against itself, that house will not be able to 
 
 26 stand. And if Satan hath risen up against himself, and 
 
 27 is divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. But no 
 one can enter into the house of the strong 771cm, and spoil 
 
 doubtedly did. He must be in collusion with the powers of evil, 
 and so related to them that their prince works in him. 
 
 23. in parables. The first occurrence of the word in this 
 Gospel. The word ' parable ' in the O. T. represents a term which 
 is used for proverbs (1 Sam. x. 12 ; Prov. i. r, &c), dark, enig- 
 matical utterances [Ps. lxxviii. 2 ; Prov. i. 6), mystical, prophetic 
 intimations (Num. xxiii. 7, 18, &c), and figurative speech with 
 more or less of a narrative in it (Ezek. xvii. 1-10). In the N. T. 
 it is applied to proverbial sayings (Lukeiv. 23); institutions, persons, 
 or events of a typical or suggestive character (Heb. ix. 9, xi. 19) ; 
 illustrative statements or comparisons (Matt. xv. 15; Luke vi. 39) ; 
 but usually in the Gospels to comparisons or similitudes containing 
 something of a story. Here it has the more general sense of an 
 illustrative or analogical statement. The Fourth Gospel has alle- 
 gories, not parables proper. 
 
 How can Satan cast ont Satan? Only Mark gives this 
 question. Jesus speaks not of the 'prince of the demons,' but 
 of 'Satan, 'the 'adversary' (the ordinary Jewish name for the Spirit 
 of evil). In the O. T. the references to Satan are few, the most 
 definite being in Job i. 6, 12 ; Zech. iii. 1, 2. In the N. T. there 
 is a frequency of allusion to Satan, under a number of names 
 and in a variety of aspects, that contrasts remarkably with the 
 reticence of the O. T. 
 
 26. cannot stand. The argument conveyed by the opening 
 question in verse 23 is developed in three particular and parallel 
 cases — a divided kingdom, a divided house, a divided Satan. In 
 each the consequence would be the destruction of the subject. 
 If Satan were in collusion with Jesus and lent him his power, he 
 would be his own destroyer. 
 
 27. the strong* man. Another succinct 'parable' or simili- 
 tude ; cf. Isa. xlix. 24, 25. It gives the positive side of the 
 refutation. Not only is Jesus not in alliance with Satan- is 
 Satan's spoiler. The 'goods' of the strong man are explains ' by 
 Luke (xi. 22) as his 'armour' and his 'spoils' — not onl his 
 possessions, but his weapons, the very things by which he is vont 
 to conquer. 
 
ST. MARK 3. 28-30 155 
 
 his goods, except he first bind the strong ?na?i ; and then 
 he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All their 28 
 sins shall he forgiven unto the sons of men, and their 
 blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme : but 29 
 whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath 
 never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin : because 30 
 they said, He hath an unclean spirit. 
 
 28. Verily. In John's Gospel we get the double form, Verily, 
 verily. In the O. T. it is used, as we use Amen, as a conclusion. 
 In the Gospels it is a grave and emphatic formula introducing 
 something that is to be said. 
 
 All their sins. The point seems to be all kinds or classes 
 of sins, with special reference to one kind or class which might 
 well seem worse than any other. The scribes had accused Jesus 
 of blasphem}', yet even for such an offence against himself, he 
 sa} r s, there is forgiveness. 
 
 29. against the Holy Spirit. There is, however, this one 
 exception, though only one, to the general assurance of forgiveness. 
 What is meant by this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Some 
 say it is something entirely peculiar to these Pharisaic slanderers 
 of our Lord, with nothing like it in the present conditions of life. 
 Others think it has no essential relation to the case of these 
 Pharisees. The truth lies between these extremes. These scribes 
 had seen an unmistakable instance of the working of a hoi}', 
 supernatural power in the healing deeds of Christ. They had 
 hardened themselves against that witness, and they had done 
 this so relentlessly that they did not hesitate to ascribe those 
 deeds of grace and goodness to Satanic power, dishonouring the 
 Holy Spirit. To speak ill of the Son of Man, as he was seen in 
 common human nature, might not imply hopeless evil and might 
 be forgiven. To deal thus with the Hoty Ghost, as if the power 
 which was unmistakably His were the power of an evil spirit, 
 revealed a mind so set against light and so lost to conviction as to 
 lack the first conditions of forgiveness. 
 
 hath never forgiveness : ' hath not forgiveness for ever,' 
 ' hath forgiveness nevermore ' — an absolute negation, meaning 
 that neither in this dispensation nor in any other is there for- 
 giveness for such a sin. 
 
 gnilty of an eternal sin. Each word here is of moment : 
 'guilty,' meaning 1 iterall} 7 involved 1, 1, subject lo, the consequences of 
 something; 'eternal,' in its natural -ense of enduring for ever \ 'sin,' 
 not 'damnation' as in the A. V. It is in the nature of things, there- 
 fore, that the blasphemy in que. sti »n should not have forgiveness. 
 
156 ST. MARK 3. 31-34 
 
 3r And there come his mother and his brethren; and, 
 
 32 standing without, they sent unto him, calling him. And 
 a multitude was sitting about him ; and they say unto 
 him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek 
 
 33 for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my 
 
 34 mother and my brethren? And looking round on them 
 which sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother 
 
 The impossibility lies in the fact that the man is involved in a sin 
 that persists, a fixed disposition or character. An enduring sin 
 carries an enduring punishment with it and in itself. 
 
 30. because they said, He hath an unclean spirit : perhaps 
 an explanation added by the evangelist himself, shewing how it 
 was the accusation made by these scribes that led to this solemn 
 declaration. 
 
 iii. 31-35. The Mother and the Brethren : cf. Matt. xii. 46-50 ; 
 Luke viii. 19-21. Luke brings in this paragraph after the Parable 
 of the Sower. Matthew attaches it definitely to our Lord's reply 
 to the request for a sign. Here the connexion is with the 
 appearance of the friends (verse 21). 
 
 31. his brethren : they are named in vi. 3, and in Matt. xiii. 55. 
 They are taken by some to have been half-brothers, sons of 
 Joseph by a former marriage (the Epiphanian theory) ; by others, 
 to have been cousins, sons of a sister of the Virgin Mary (the 
 Hieronymian theory, or theory of Jerome) ; by others still, to 
 have been brothers in the proper sense, younger sons of Joseph 
 and Mary (the Helvidian theory). The last view is favoured by 
 the natural sense of the word, the inference from the term ' first- 
 born son ' (Matt. i. 25 ; Luke ii. 7) and the mention of the mother 
 (with the ordinary sense of that word) along with the brethren. 
 
 standing wi'iout: hey are unable to get in by reason of 
 the crowd, and, therefore, s -nd a message to Jesus, which perhaps 
 was passed from mouth t< mouth till it reached those immediately 
 about him. 
 
 32. seek for thee: moved probably by anxiety about him. 
 There is nothing to indicate ither that they claimed any guardian- 
 ship over him, or that he gave the audience asked for. 
 
 33. answereth them. In the first instance those who conveyed 
 the message, and then the others, the mother and the brothers 
 probably being without. 
 
 34. looking round . . . about: a characteristic action, but 
 meaning something different from the indignant survey in iii. 
 
 them which sat round about him : doubtless the disciphs as 
 the words following imply. 
 
ST. MARK 3. 35-4. 3 157 
 
 and my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of 35 
 God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 
 
 And again he began to teach by the sea side. And 4 
 there is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so 
 that he entered into a boat, and sat in the sea ; and all 
 the multitude were by the sea on the land. And he 2 
 taught them many things in parables, and said unto them 
 in his teaching, Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth 3 
 
 35. the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. There 
 is no harshr in this declaration ; nothing to suggest that he 
 thought of disowning his own relations, or made little of natural 
 human ties and affections, or bade us do so. But he gives us to 
 understand that there is a higher relationship still, a family of 
 God that is greater than the human family. Kinship to him is 
 not of birth, but of the Spirit, and has its essence in obedience, 
 the doing of his Father's will. \ He speaks in the full conscious- 
 ness of his being the Son of God, who has duties incumbent on 
 him in virtue pi wis mission' (Meyer). 
 
 iv. 1-9. Payable of the Sozvcr : cf. Matt. xiii. 1-9 ; Luke viii. 4-8. 
 This is the ' b* ginning of parables,' as the turning of water into 
 wine was the ' beginning of miracles' — the great pattern-parable, 
 and one of those which have a place in each of the Synoptists. 
 Matthew and Mark agree in bringing it in after the incident of the 
 mother and brethren. Luke places it in a different connexion, 
 before that incident. Mark gives it as one of 'many' that were 
 spoken ('verses 2, 33), and reports in the same connexion other 
 two. Mattlu. gives a cluster of seven. 
 
 1. began to teach: Jesus was again by the lake, and had 
 resumed his aachiag. At once a crowd gathered, and he betook 
 himself f y I ;edom's sake to the boat. Then his teaching took 
 the fori? parable. That this was a change, and one that 
 
 surprised the disciples, appears from their question, 'Why 
 speakert ;hou unto them in parables?' (Matt. xiii. 10). Hitherto 
 he haw ught in more direct and less pictorial terms, bywords 
 of gr . like those of the Sermon on the Mount, or by simple 
 figure i which explained themselves. But he had now reached 
 apoin' in his ministry at which he had to deal with the deeper 
 things of his kingdom. These were so strange to the Jews, so 
 unlike all their ideas and expectations, that he had to adopt 
 a method of instruction that might conciliate, and provoke 
 refection, and gradually make a -/way to their minds for new 
 truth. 
 
 3. the sower. The things on wihich his eye could rest as he 
 
i 5 8 ST. MARK 4. 4-9 
 
 4 to sow : and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell 
 by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it. 
 
 5 And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not 
 much earth ; and straightway it sprang up, because it 
 
 6 had no deepness of earth : and when the sun was risen, 
 it was scorched ; and because it had no root, it withered 
 
 7 away. And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns 
 S grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And 
 
 others fell into the good ground, a i yielded fruit, 
 growing up and increasing ; and brought forth, thirtyfold, 
 9 and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. And he said, Who 
 hath ears to hear, let him hear. 
 
 sat there in the boat— the sea, the cornfields, the soils of different 
 kinds, the beaten pathway, the intertwining thorns, the flocks 
 of birds, would suggest the similitudes. 
 
 went forth: those who tilled the soil'T> ed together in 
 „ townships or villages, and 'went forth' to do their day's work in 
 the fields. 
 
 4. the way side: the path by the field or passing through it, 
 beaten by the tread of many feet and incapab'e of receiving 
 the seed. 
 
 5. rocky ground: that is (cf. Luke's 'on the fock')i not soil 
 merely mixed with stones, but solid rock thinly "vered with 
 soil. The seed might penetrate a little way, but could have no 
 depth of root and would speedily be scorched. 
 
 *7. among- the thorns: in Matthew, 'upon the thon. / that is, on 
 thorny ground. Thorns, the ndbk of the Arabs, are a. abundant 
 crop in Syria. They look like the grain, and grow with it, but 
 only to discover at last their deadly nature, and choke the wheat 
 when it should yield its increase. 
 
 8. thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Matthew 
 begins with the highest degree of fruitfulness and goes'down the 
 scale. Luke says simply ' a hundredfold.' Writers, both uicient 
 and modern, speak of the extraordinary fertility of EasteV'i soil 
 (cf. Gen. xxvi. 12), and not least of that of Galilee. Of the 
 Plain of Gennesaret Dr. Robinsom says, 'its fertility can ha ■• be 
 exceeded ' (Bib. Researches, iii. 285). 
 
 The soils, therefore, have respectively the qualities of hardness, 
 thinness, foulness, and goodness. The seed will have fortunes cor- 
 responding to the soils. In /one case it does not spring at all; 
 in the second it springs bub to wither; in the third it spnngs 
 
ST. MARK 4. 10-12 159 
 
 And when he was alone, they that were about him 10 
 with the twelve asked of him the parables. And he 11 
 said unto them, Unto you is given the mystery of the 
 kingdom of God : but unto them that are without, all 
 things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, 12 
 
 and grov. s, but yields nothing ; in the fourth it comes to maturity, 
 and to an increase varying in measure according to the different 
 degrees of the soil's softness, depth, and purity. 
 
 9. Wl'o hath ears to hear, let him hear: solemn words 
 rcportea by all three Synoptists here; spoken also in connexion 
 with the sayings recorded in Matt. xi. 15, xiii. 43 ; Mark iv. 23 ; 
 Luke xiv. 35 They do not occur in John's Gospel ; but in the 
 Apocalypse they appear eight times. 
 
 iv. io jo. Explanation of the Payable; cf. Matt. xiii. 10-23; 
 Luke viri. 9-15. 
 
 10. they that were about him with the twelve asked of 
 him. Tlu cleaning of the parable was not clear even to the 
 disciples and the Twelve, far less to others. When he has finished 
 his teachu t ; lor the time and 'Jie crowd is gone, he explains things 
 in private. He does this in response to a request made by his 
 disciples (L uke viii. 9). 
 
 11. the uystery. By this is meant a secret thajt is told or is 
 destined to I told ; in that sense the gospel {Rom. xvi. 25 ; 1 Cor. 
 ii. 1, 7), or some particular part or truth of it, e.g. the calling of"^ 
 the Gentf Eph. iii. 3), the change at the Resurrection (1 Cor. 
 xv. 51), is s mystery.' 
 
 them t.'iat are without. Those outside the circle of the 
 disciples. .>!ark alone gives this phrase. 
 
 all things are done in parables. Parabolic teaching serves 
 more than >ne good purpose. It conciliates attention; it wins 
 a place for strange or unwelcome truths in the mind ; it illumines 
 and illustrates; it helps the memory and stimulates reflection; 
 it guards the life of truth until it can be received. But it has also 
 another j»'e". It is. as Matthew Henry puts it, a 'shell that keeps 
 good fifuflt for the diligent, but keeps it from the slothful.' It is 
 this r,<":>al object or result that is in view here. 
 
 12. iat seeing they may see, and not perceive. Our Lord 
 here nakes use of certain words of the O. T. (Isa. vi. 10 which 
 ?,■■ • epcatedly in the N. T. (cf. John xii. 40 ; Acts xxviii. 26), 
 and Much speak of a blindness that comes on the people as the 
 pen l y of their grossness and the hardening of their minds. He 
 app ?s these words to the case of those who crowded him and 
 yet vere ' without.' He spoke as he did to the dull and carnal 
 
160 ST. MARK 4. 13-18 
 
 and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not 
 understand ; lest haply they should turn again, and it 
 
 13 should be forgiven them. And he saith unto them, 
 Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all 
 14, 15 the parables ? The sower soweth the word. And these 
 are they by the way side, where the word is sown : and 
 when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and 
 taketh away the word which hath been sown in them, 
 
 16 And these in like manner are they that are sown upon 
 the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, 
 
 1 $• straightway receive it with joy ; and they have no root 
 in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when 
 tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, 
 
 18 straightway they stumble. And others are they that are 
 sown among the thorns ; these_ are they that have heard 
 
 1 because seeing they see not' (Ivlatti xiii. 13). So in Matthew it is 
 expressed as result. But in Markups words are give? 1 in terms of 
 purpose — l tl\at seeing they may sed and not perceive.' For with 
 God result is, also purpose. This solemn and difficult saying touches 
 one of the sovereign laws of the kingdom of God — the fact that, 
 in the Divine order and in the nature of things, refusal t;o receive 
 the truth issues in inability to see the truth. The love of darkness 
 has for its penalty ultimate insensibility to the light. 
 
 13. Know ye not this parable? The parable had its occasion 
 in the moral condition of the disciples. It was intended to free 
 them from those mistaken, unspiritual anticipations of 'ms kingdom, 
 which stood in the way of their understanding his teaching, and to 
 help them to see that that kingdom was to come not immediately 
 and by power, but by means of a Divine message which required 
 time to do its work. 
 
 14. soweth the word. The great subject of the pan.ble, there- 
 fore, is the word; this Divine message which he brough to men, 
 the conditions of its efficiency, and the reception it was t have. 
 
 15. the way side: a figure of the spiritually obtuse. , or the 
 hearer whose ear is reached but not his heart, who is as if the 
 word had never come to hjim. 
 
 . 16. the rocky places.: 1 So is it with the impulsive, :ady 
 
 hearer who receives the word, but in a way so superficial tl t he 
 goes down at once before trial. 
 
 18. among the thorns. A third type of mind, sympatic, c to 
 
ST. MARK 4. 19-25 161 
 
 the word, and the cares of the world, and the deceitful- 19 
 ness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, 
 choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And those 20 
 are they that were sown upon the good ground ; such as 
 hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, 
 and sixty fold, and a hundredfold. 
 
 And he said unto them, Is the lamp brought to be 21 
 put under the bushel, or under the bed, and not to be 
 put on the stand? For there is nothing hid, save that 22 
 it should be manifested ; neither was anything made 
 secret, but that it should come to light. If any man 23 
 hath ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, 24 
 Take heed what ye hear : with what measure ye mete 
 it shall be measured unto you : and more shall be given 
 unto you. For he that hath, to him shall be given : 25 
 
 the message and going far with it, but divided between God and 
 the world, and so becoming ' unfruitful ' — reaching nothing worthy 
 in life or in service. 
 
 20. the good ground. The mind that ' takes in ' the word, 
 keeps it, and submits itself to its spiritual work, and so obtains, 
 in smaller or larger measure, the good of life and the power of 
 service. 
 
 iv. 21-25. The Responsibility of Hearing ; cf. Luke viii. 16-18. 
 
 21. the lamp. The kind of lamp no doubt that might be seen 
 in any humble Galilean house, a simple earthenware saucer, 
 perhaps, with wick and oil. 
 
 22. that it should be manifested. As a lamp is given not 
 in order to be covered, but that it may give light, so the word 
 is given by Christ to the disciples not that they may keep it for 
 themselves, but that they may impart it to others. The explana- 
 tion is offered perhaps with a view to the ' mystery ' of the 
 kingdom of God. The things of that kingdom are mysteries, but 
 they are n sunderstood if they are taken to be secrets meant to 
 remain a tret. 
 
 24. Take heed what ye hear. The importance of right hearing 
 is seen id this — that the measure of attainment in this matter of 
 knowing the mystery of the kingdom will be the measure of the 
 attent iven to the word. 
 
 25. >e that hath, to him shall be given. Another of the 
 
 M 
 
i6 2 ST. MARK 4. 26-29 
 
 and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away 
 even that which he hath. 
 
 26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man 
 
 27 should cast seed upon the earth ; and should sleep and 
 rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and 
 
 28 grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit 
 of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full 
 
 29 corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway 
 he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come. 
 
 great laws of the kingdom. Knowledge adds to knowledge. The 
 due exercise of the gift of insight into truth leads to larger insight, 
 while neglect of gift leads to loss of gift. 
 
 iv. 26-29. Parable of the Fruit-bearing Earth. One of the three 
 parables which speak of the things of the kingdom in terms of a 
 sower's work; akin to those of the sower and the tares, but with 
 a distinct purpose, and illustrating a different aspect of the king- 
 dom. It is peculiar to Mark. 
 
 27. and rise night and day. The picture is that of a farmer 
 who, having done the work of sowing which belongs to him to do, 
 goes about in the ordinary way of life, and attempts nothing 
 further, but patiently and hopefully leaves the seed to the action 
 of the forces in the earth. 
 
 28. The earth beareth fruit of herself. The heart of the 
 parable is here, in the spontaneous action of the earth. While 
 the man waits, the seed is passing through changes which are 
 independent of his action, and are due to the unconstrained and 
 unaided operation of the forces stored in the soil. 
 
 first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. 
 These hidden forces work not only surely and effectively, but 
 regularly, carrying the seed without fail through the orderly 
 development of blade, ear, and full corn. 
 
 29. when the fruit is ripe : or, ' alloweth.' Only at the end 
 has the farmer his time again. At last the seed returns to him as 
 the ripe grain which it is for him to gather. All through the 
 interval things have gone on in ways unknown to him, by the 
 operation of powers hidden from him and uncontrolled by him. 
 
 The parable is best described as that of the fruit-bearing rarth. 
 It represents the kingdom of God indeed as a thing that grows 
 silently and by successive orderly stages. But neither the secrecy 
 nor the gradual, regulated method of increase is the immediate 
 ~point here. It is that the kingdom of God is a spiritual thing 
 introduced into the world, working in quiet and withe :aste 
 
ST. MARK 4. 30-32 163 
 
 And he said, How shall we liken the kingdom of 30 
 God ? or in what parable shall we set it forth ? It is 31 
 like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown 
 upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds 
 that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth 32 
 up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth 
 out great branches ; so that the birds of the heaven can 
 lodge under the shadow thereof. 
 
 through the moral forces deposited in human life and society, and 
 moving on to its assured end by laws of its own. This is a word, 
 therefore, of encouragement. The Parable of the Sower spoke of 
 disappointments and failures due to the nature of the soil in which 
 the seed is committed. This one speaks of hidden forces beyond 
 our knowledge or control, which secure the growth of the seed, 
 when once it is fitly sown, and make it certain of increase. 
 
 iv. 30-32. Parable of the Mustard Seed : cf. Matt. xiii. 31, 32 ; 
 Luke xiii. 18, 19. 
 
 31. mustard seed. Never mentioned in the O. T. In the N. T. 
 it occurs thrice on the lips of Christ, and always in respect of its 
 smallness, viz. here (with the parallels in Matthew and Luke), in 
 Matt. xvii. 20, and Luke xvii. 6. No doubt the common mustard- 
 plant is meant ; not, as some have supposed, the tree known as the 
 khardal, which is said to grow as high as twenty-five feet. For 
 that tree does not appear to have been known in the districts 
 in which Jesus was teaching. 
 
 less than all the seeds : that is, than those familiar to the 
 Jews of these parts and wont to be handled by them. 
 
 32. greater than all the herbs: that is, than all that had a place 
 in a Jew's garden. In hot countries the mustard (one of the tiniest 
 of seeds) grew to a great size, ten or twelve feet high — as tall, we 
 are told, as a horse and his rider. 
 
 birds of the heaven can lodge. Not for nesting, but rather 
 for resting and for devouring the seeds. Birds are said to have 
 a special favour for the mustard and its branches. 
 
 The point of the parable is in the contrast between the diminutive 
 seed and the great increase. It is a word of hope, needed by the 
 disciples and opportunely spoken. The kingdom of God as they 
 now saw it was so unlike what they looked for, and so insignificant 
 in its first appearance, as to suggest gloomy anticipations. This 
 parable was spoken to correct that mood of mind, and give the 
 assurance of a mighty future, notwithstanding the small and 
 obscure beginning. The kingdom would yet cover the earth and 
 
 M 2 
 
164 ST. MARK 4. 33-36 
 
 33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto 
 
 34 them, as they were able to hear it : and without a parable 
 spake he not unto them : but privately to his own 
 disciples he expounded all things. 
 
 35 And on that day, when even was come, he saith 
 
 36 unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. And 
 leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even 
 
 embrace the nations (cf. Ezek. xxxi. 6, 12). The growth of the 
 kingdom of God had already been set forth in the O. T. under the 
 image of a tree (Ezek. iv. 10-12, xvii. 22, 24, xxxi. 3-9 ; Dan. iv. 
 10-12). 
 
 iv. 33-34. Method and Principle of Christ's Teaching: cf. Matt, 
 xiii. 34, 35. 
 
 33. many such parables. It is but a selection, therefore, that 
 is given by Mark. 
 
 as they were able to hear it. Jesus taught with a wise 
 adaptation to the capacities of his hearers, beginning with the 
 simpler questions of duty, proceeding to the deeper things of his 
 kingdom, and unfolding these latter gradually. Cf. John xvi. 12. 
 The Apostles taught on the same principle : cf. 1 Cor. iii. 2 ; Heb. 
 v. 12, xii. 20. 
 
 34. without a parable spake he not unto them. We do not 
 need, however, to take this to mean that he limited himself to 
 the parabolic form of teaching on all occasions hereafter. 
 
 expounded. The word is used of the interpreting of dreams 
 (Gen. xl. 8, xli. 8, 12), and also of the deciding of questions 
 (Acts xix. 39). It was our Lord's stated practice, therefore, 
 to open up to his disciples, when they were alone, the meaning 
 of the parables he had spoken to the people generally. Matthew 
 finds a fulfilment of Ps. lxxviii. 2 in this habitual use of parabolic 
 address (ch. xiii. 14 . 
 
 * v - 35~4 I - The Stilling of the Storm : cf. Matt. viii. 23-27 ; 
 Luke viii. 22-25. Luke agrees with Mark in introducing this 
 incident immediately after these parables. In all three Synoptists 
 it is followed immediately by the story of the Gadarene demoniac. 
 
 35. on that day. Mark's note of time is very definite. Luke 
 says simply 'on one of those days.' 
 
 when even was come. At the close, therefore, of an ex- 
 hausting day's work he proposes to cross to the other side, no 
 doubt with a view to be free of the crowd and obtain rest. 
 
 36. take him. Said appropriately of the disciples, as being in 
 charge of the boat. 
 
ST. MARK 4. 37-39 165 
 
 as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with 
 him. And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and 37 
 the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat 
 was now filling. And he himself was in the stern, 38 
 asleep on the cushion : and they awake him, and say 
 unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish ? And 39 
 he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the 
 sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there 
 
 as he was : without attempting any change or making any 
 further provision for him. He was in the boat, and they start at 
 once. 
 
 other boats. This is noticed only by Mark. They set out, 
 probably, in eagerness to follow him. Nothing is told us of their 
 fate. 
 
 37. ariseth a great storm of wind. Luke's description is 
 peculiarly true to nature — ' there came down a storm of wind on 
 the lake.' It was one of those sudden, fierce winds that sweep 
 down from the heights upon the deep-set lake, through the great 
 rifts that open out on the shore. 
 
 now filling* : not ' was now full.' as in the A. V. The waves, 
 driven with sudden violence, began to fill the boat. 
 
 38. he himself: contrasting his tranquil slumber with the 
 tumult raging about him. 
 
 in the stern, asleep on the cushion. This picture of his 
 position is given by Mark alone. Matthew and Luke mention only 
 his sleeping. ' In the stern ' — where he could rest, out of the way 
 of those handling the boat. ' Asleep ' — because weary, like one of 
 ourselves, and needing rest ; so fast asleep, too, as to be unconscious 
 of the tempest. This is the only occasion on which the Gospels 
 directly ascribe sleep to him. ' The cushion ' — a pillow, or perhaps 
 the leather seat of steersman or rower. 
 
 they awake him : fear rendering them unable any longer to 
 forbear. 
 
 Master: properly ' teacher,' ' Rabbi.' 
 
 carest thou not? An appeal with a touch of reproach in it, 
 which does not appear in Matthew or in Luke. 
 
 39. And he awoke. What the noise of wind and wave did not 
 do, is done at once by the call of the disciples. 
 
 rebuked. All three Synoptists notice the fact : Mark alone 
 gives the terms of the command addressed to the sea. 
 
 be still : lit. ' be muzzled,' as if the sea were a raging, 
 roaring bca3t. The form of the word, too, means 'be still forth- 
 
166 ST. MARK 4. 40— 5. 2 
 
 40 was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why -re 
 
 41 ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? And they feared 
 exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is 
 this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? 
 
 5 And they came to the other side of the sea, into 
 2 the country of the Gerasenes. And when he was 
 
 with and remain so.' With reference to the shrieking winds — 
 ' Peace ' ; with reference to the rushing waves — ' be still.' 
 
 ceased : a picturesque word, expressing cessation from tiring 
 toil and trouble. The lake sank back forthwith, like an exhausted 
 creature, into motionless repose. 
 -^ 40. lie said unto them. He had to rebuke the disciples as well 
 as the winds and waves. In Matthew the order is reversed, and 
 the chiding of the disciples precedes the stilling of the raging 
 elements. 
 
 fearful. Courage fled because their trust failed. 
 
 have ye not yet faith ? ' Not yet ' — after all they had seen 
 in these many days of association with him. Luke puts it, ' Where 
 is your faith ? ' They had it in a measure, but it was not at hand 
 then when they needed it. 
 
 41. feared exceedingly. They are mastered now by a different 
 kind of fear — not weak timidity, but wholesome awe. 
 
 Who then is this? New questions spring to their lips, 
 indicating how profoundly they are moved. A greater impression 
 is made upon them by this work than by any other they have 
 yet witnessed. It came home to themselves and concerned those 
 uncontrollable forces of nature which put their awe on fisher- 
 folk like them. To them it meant more than even the rebuke 
 of demons (i. 27). 
 
 v. 1-20. The Gerasene Demoniac : cf. Matt. viii. 28-32 ; Lukeviii. 
 26-33. ?he three S3>-noptists agree in bringing the incidents of 
 the Gerasene or Gadarene demoniac, the woman with the issue, 
 and the daughter of Jai'rus together in their narratives. Mark and 
 Luke do this more completely than Matthew. These incidents are 
 placed by Matthew, however, in a different relation to other events 
 from that which they have in Mark and Luke. In the First Gospel 
 the healing of this demoniac and the stilling of the storm which 
 it follows are introduced after the restoration of Peter's mother- 
 in-law and the incidents of the scribe and the disciple. 
 
 1. the other side of the sea: that is, the eastern side. 
 the country of the Gerasenes. The question of the locality 
 is one of great difficulty, in respect both of topography and of 
 variation in the text. The ancient MSS. differ greatly in all the 
 
ST. MARK 5. 3,4 167 
 
 come out of the boat, straightway there met him out 
 of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had 3 
 his dwelling in the tombs : and no man could any 
 more bind him, no, not with a chain ; because that 4 
 he had been often bound with fetters and chains, 
 and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and 
 
 three Synoptical Gospels, and they differ in such a way as to point 
 to a different designation of the place in each of the three. The 
 evidence is in favour of ' the country of the Gadarenes ' as the 
 reading of Matthew; 'the country of" the Gerasenes' as that of 
 Mark; 'the country of the Gergesenes'' as that of Luke, though 
 the R. V. prefers ' Gerasenes ' in Luke as well as in Mark. It is 
 possible that Gerasenes and Gergesenes are different pronunciations 
 of the same word or a copyist's confusion of one with the other. 
 What then is the place in view? It cannot be the Gerasa in 
 Gilead, which is identified with Jerash ; for that is some twenty 
 miles east of the Jordan. Nor can it well be the Gadara which 
 Matthew's reading might suggest, and which is identified with 
 Um-Keiss ; for that was at least six miles south of the lake, and 
 was separated by a deep gorge from the plain sloping down to 
 the lake. The conditions of the narrative are best fulfilled by 
 a certain Khersa or Gcrsa, the ruins of which remain, occupying 
 a site sufficiently near the sea, shewing traces of tombs, and 
 within about a mile of the point at which the hills descend by 
 a steep, even slope to within forty feet of the water's edge. The 
 district known as ' the country of the Gadarenes ' may have 
 extended to the lake, and so have included this & hersa. 
 
 2. straightway there met him : not evefi in this remote 
 locality was there rest for him. No sooner is he on shore than 
 there is a call upon his grace. Matthew speaks of ' two possessed 
 with devils.' Mark and Luke notice only one. 
 
 3. tombs. The man had his dwelling in these, and now came 
 from them. They were sometimes built above ground, oftener 
 perhaps they were caves in the rocks, natural or excavated. To 
 touch a dead body or a grave was to become unclean, according 
 to the Jewish Law (Num. xix. 11, 16). 
 
 no man could any more bind him. To such a pass had it 
 come with him that he was now beyond all restraint. Not even 
 fetters could hold him. 
 
 4. because that he had been often bound. Trial had been 
 made both with fetters and with manacles, but to no purpose. 
 
 rent asunder . . . broken in pieces. A vivid description of 
 untameable, frenzied strength, tearing chains in bits and ' crushing 
 fetters ' like so much pottery. 
 
168 ST. MARK 5. 5-9 
 
 the fetters broken in pieces : and no man had strength 
 
 5 to tame him. And always, night and day, in the tombs 
 and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting 
 
 6 himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, 
 
 7 he ran and worshipped him ; and crying out with a loud 
 voice, he saith, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, 
 thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by 
 
 8 God, torment me not. For he said unto him, Come 
 
 9 forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man. And he 
 asked him, What is thy name? And he saith unto 
 
 5. crying out, and cutting himself. Each of the Evangelists 
 adds something to the picture of the terror of the man's condition. 
 Matthew notes that he made the way impassable ; Mark that he 
 cried and cut himself in his fury ; Luke that ' for a long time he 
 had worn no clothes.' 
 
 6. from afar. A touch peculiar to Mark. 
 
 ran and worshipped him. From a distance catching sight of 
 Jesus, he comes bounding on in his fierce madness, but when he 
 draws near him his mood changes and he prostrates himself 
 in awe. 
 
 7. what have I to do with thee? There is here the same 
 repudiation of anything in common with Jesus as in the previous 
 case in i. 23. 
 
 Son of the VIost High God. In the former case Jesus was 
 addressed as f tne Holy One of God.' Here his Messiahship is 
 confessed as a Divine Sonship, and the God to whom he is said 
 to be in that relation of Sonship is designated by a peculiar O. T. 
 name. It is a name that goes back to the oldest stages of Hebrew 
 faith and worship, while it is used also in the Poetic and Prophetic 
 books. See such passages as Gen. xiv. 18, &c. ; Num. xxiv. 16 
 (Balaam's prophecy) ; Deut. xxxii. 8; Ps. xviii. 13, xxi. 7, xlvi. 4, 
 1. 14. lxxvii. 10, lxxviii. 17, xci. 1, 9, &c. ; Isa. xiv. 14. It is 
 a note of the supremacy of God. In the N. T. it is most frequent 
 in Luke. 
 
 torment me not. Matthew puts it in the form of a question 
 and as if the torment were a thing anticipated, but a penalty of 
 the future fulfilling itself too soon if it came now — 'Art thou 
 come hither to torment us before the tittiel" 1 Mark alone gives the 
 adjuration. 
 
 9. What is thy name ? The question is put perhaps to clear 
 the man's mind and bring matters to the point. The confusion of 
 
ST. MARK 5. 10-13 169 
 
 him, My name is Legion ; for we are many. And he 10 
 besought him much that he would not send them away 
 out of the country. Now there was there on the moun- n 
 tain side a great herd of swine feeding. And they 12 
 besought him, saying, Send us into the sw r ine, that we 
 may enter into them. And he gave them leave. And 13 
 the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the 
 
 consciousness is seen in the mixed, contradictory utterances, now 
 human and now demoniac. 
 
 Legion : the name of a division of the Roman army, number- 
 ing 4,000. 5,000, or 6,000 men, and making one of the most 
 tremendous instruments ever handled by the captains of war. In 
 applying this name to himself the possessed man appealed to 
 Christ's pity. It meant that he was miserable and helpless in the 
 grasp of the most terrible, resistless, and harassing of evil forces — 
 a sufferer from a demoniac power which was not one indeed, but 
 the aggregate of many. 
 
 10. out of the country. This no doubt means out of this 
 Gerasene territory with which they were familiar. But in Luke 
 the request is that Jesus should not command them to ' depart into 
 the abyss' ; which may mean the deep waters there before them, 
 or rather the place of torment in the nether world. 
 
 11. a great herd of swine. Mark alone gives the number, 
 'about two thousand. 1 It is not stated whether the herd was the 
 property of Gentiles or of Jews. It is not clear to what extent, 
 if to any. the keeping of swine prevailed among the Jews of our 
 Lord's time ; but through most of their history they seem to have 
 avoided it. The eating of swine's flesh was forbidden by the Law 
 (Lev. xi. 7 ; Deut. xiv. 8). The flesh and blood of swine are 
 regarded by the O. T. as heathen offerings, offerings of abomination 
 (Isa. lxv. 4, lxvi. 3. 17 ; cf. 1 Mace. i. 47. 
 
 13. gave them leave. With reference to the loss that ensued 
 and the difficulty supposed to be created by the destruction of 
 property, it is to be noticed that Christ's word did not go beyond 
 permission. 'Those who measure rightly the value of a human 
 spirit thus restored to itself, to its fellow men, and to God,' says 
 Dr. Plumptre, ' will not think that the destruction of brute-life was 
 too dear a price to pay for its restoration.' It may be, too, that 
 in the sufferer's mental condition, and in order to his perfect 
 recovery of the calm and clearness of the normal, undivided con- 
 sciousness, it was necessary that he should have some unmistak- 
 able, visible evidence of hio deliverance from the malign powers 
 enthralling him. 
 
170 ST. MARK 5. 14-16 
 
 swine : and the herd rushed down the steep into the 
 sea, in number about two thousand ; and they were 
 
 14 choked in the sea. And they that fed them fled, and 
 told it in the city, and in the country. And they came 
 
 15 to see what it was that had come to pass. And they 
 come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed 
 with devils sitting, clothed and in his right mind, even 
 
 16 him that had the legion : and they were afraid. And 
 they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him 
 that was possessed with devils, and concerning the 
 
 the herd rushed down the steep into the sea. ' We are 
 
 told,' says the author of The Rob Roy on the Jordan (p. 411), ' that 
 the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place. Liter- 
 ally it is "down the steep" in all three reports. It does not say 
 that it was a high place, but steep, and that they ran (not fell) 
 down this into the sea. There are several steeps near the sea 
 here, but only one so close to the water as to make it sure that if 
 a herd ran violently down they would go into the sea. Here, 
 for a full half-mile, the beach is of a form different from any other 
 round the lake, and from any that I have noticed in any lake or 
 sea before. It is flat until close to the edge. There a hedge of 
 oleanders fringes the end of the plain, and immediately below 
 these is a gravel beach inclined so steep that when my boat was 
 at the shore I could not see over the top even by standing up ; 
 while the water alongside is so deep that it covered my paddle 
 (seven feet long) when dipped vertically a few feet from the shore. 
 Now if the swine rushed along this short plain toward this hedge 
 of underwood (and in the delta of Semakh their usual feeding-place 
 would be often among thick brushwood of this kind) they would 
 instantly pass through the shrubs and then down the steep 
 gravel beyond into the deep water, where they would surely be 
 drowned.' 
 
 14. they came to see. These would be the people of the 
 town and the countryside, largely heathen. ' The presence of 
 these unclean animals, so abhorrent to the Jews, indicates, what 
 we know from other sources, that the region was inhabited by 
 a mixed population, in which Gentiles predominated ' (Gould). 
 
 15. clothed and in his right mind: so complete a trans- 
 formation. Luke states explicitly (which Mark does not do) that 
 in his demonised condition the man ' for a long time . . . had 
 worn no clothes ' (viii. 27). 
 
ST. MARK 5. 17-20 171 
 
 swine. And they began to beseech him to depart 17 
 from their borders. And as he was entering into the 18 
 boat, he that had been possessed with devils besought 
 him that he might be with him. And he suffered him 19 
 not, but saith unto him, Go to thy house unto thy 
 friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath 
 done for thee, and Iww he had mercy on thee. And 20 
 he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis 
 
 17. they began to beseech him to depart. The first impression 
 produced upon the people by the sight of the restored demoniac 
 was that of fear (verse 15). When the whole story was told 
 them their sense of awe passed into anxiety to get the Healer out 
 of their neighbourhood. Perhaps they dreaded further loss. In 
 no other case did a miracle wrought by Christ have an effect like 
 this, adverse to himself. 
 
 18. that he might be with him. The sense of indebtedness 
 and gratitude would naturally make him anxious to cling to 
 Jesus — perhaps also the vague fear of what might happen if he 
 were separated from the Fount of healing power. 
 
 19. suffered him not. Jesus had a higher mission for him. 
 He was to return to the home which he had exchanged for the 
 tombs, and be a witness there for the Healer. Cf. the case of 
 ./Eneas, Acts ix. 35. 
 
 tell them. In the case of the leper (i. 44), and again in that 
 of the witnesses of the raising of Jai'rus's daughter (v. 43), he 
 commanded silence. In this instance he enjoins the publication 
 of the miracle. The reason for the difference in this matter is 
 not stated. It may have lain in the character of the man, or it 
 may have its explanation in the nature of the region. For this 
 was Peraea, and in that remoter district, where also he would 
 be less known, there might be less risk from publicity. 
 
 the Lord : the O. T. name for God. So the works done by 
 Jesus are declared by him to be works done by God through 
 him. Cf. Peter's address, Acts ii. 22. 
 
 20. in Decapolis. Only Mark mentions the locality by name. 
 The term occurs only three times in the N. T. — here, and in 
 Matt. iv. 25; Mark vii. 31. It means the region or confederation 
 of the ' ten cities.' The district cannot be very exactly defined. 
 Probably its limits varied somewhat from time to time, as the 
 names of the cities also varied. Pliny gives them as follows : — 
 Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, 
 Canatha, Damascus, Raphana. With the exception of Scythopolis 
 (the ancient Bethshan, modern Bcisau) they seem, therefore, to 
 
172 ST. MARK 5. 21 
 
 how great things Jesus had done for him : and all men 
 did marvel. 
 21 And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat 
 unto the other side, a great multitude was gathered 
 
 have been all east of the Jordan and to the south-east of Galilee, 
 within Gilead and Bashan. After the Roman conquest of these 
 territories in b. c. 65, the cities were rebuilt and had certain 
 privileges bestowed on them. 
 
 all men did marvel. The population of these parts was 
 made up probably of natives, Greek-speaking colonists who had 
 settled before the Roman conquest, and later Roman colonists. 
 While it is said that 'all men did marvel,' it is not said that any 
 became disciples of Jesus, nor is it likely that this would be the 
 case with men who were so wishful that he should quit their 
 district. 
 
 v. 21-24. The case of Jairus and his daughter: cf. Matt. 
 ix. 18, 19; Luke viii. 41, 42. Three instances of the exercise 
 of the miraculous power of Jesus in raising the dead to life 
 are recorded in the Gospels — one where life had little more 
 than fled, another where burial was impending, a third where 
 the tomb had held its tenant for days. There were reasons for 
 the selection of these three for record, in the nature of the case, 
 if not in evidential value. For one was the case of a ruler's only 
 child, another that of a widow's only son, and the third that of the 
 Lord's friend, the brother of the sisters whom he loved. But of 
 the three only the case of Jairus is reported by all the Synoptists, 
 while the miracle at Nain is told only by Luke, and that of Bethany 
 only by John. Mark's narrative here is the most vivid and cir- 
 cumstantial. He enables us to follow the event in all its touching 
 and impressive details from beginning to end. Matthew's account 
 is brief, Luke's is fuller. There are also certain differences in 
 the connexion of this event and in the particulars. 
 
 21. the other side: the western side again, and, as we may 
 judge, the neighbourhood of Capernaum. 
 
 a great multitude was gathered. The Gerasenes on the 
 eastern side had been eager to see him depart. The people 
 of the western side were eager to have him back. They ' were 
 all waiting for him,' as Luke tells us, in a crowd upon the shore. 
 The incident that follows is introduced by Luke as well as by 
 Mark immediately after that of the Gerasene demoniac. But 
 Matthew attaches it to the visit of the disciples of John who 
 questioned Jesus on the subject of fasting, and speaks of Jairus 
 coming to Jesus, not by the sea, but in the house. Matthew's 
 words are precise — 'while he spake these things unto them, 
 
ST. MARK 5. 22, 23 173 
 
 unto I : and he was by the sea. And there cometh 22 
 one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name ; 
 and seeing him, he falleth at his feet, and beseecheth 23 
 him much, saying, My little daughter is at the point 
 of death : / pray thee, that thou come and lay thy 
 hands on her, that she may be made whole, and live. 
 
 behold, there came a ruler.' Though it is his habit to group 
 things, whether words or events, and that not according to their 
 actual order, but according to subject, his words may indicate in 
 this case the real historical order. 
 
 22. one of the rulers of the synagogue. Luke calls him 
 'a ruler of the synagogue,' Matthew says simply 'a ruler.' 
 Usually there was only one such ' president ' for each synagogue, 
 though there might also be more than one. Paul and Barnabas 
 were invited to give their word of exhortation in the Pisidian 
 Antioch b3 T 'the rulers of the synagogue' (Acts xiii. 15). The 
 duties of such a * ruler.' who was usually one of the elders of the 
 congregation, had to do specially with the conduct of public 
 worship, in its various parts of prayer, reading of Scripture, and 
 exhortation. 
 
 Jairus. A name corresponding to the Jair of the O.T. 
 A Jair is mentioned as a son of Manasseh in the time of Moses 
 (Num. xxxii. 41 ; Deut. iii. 14, &c.}. as one of the Judges (Judges x. 
 3, &c), as the father of Mordecai (Esther ii. 5), and as the father of 
 Elhanan (1 Chron. xx. 5). Nothing further is told us of this Jairus. 
 It is supposed with some probability, however, that he belonged to 
 Capernaum, and that thus he may have been one of those sent by 
 the centurion who ' built a synagogue ' to plead with Jesus on 
 behalf of his sick servant (Luke vii. 3). If so, he might have had 
 such previous knowledge of Jesus as would explain the earnestness 
 and the confidence with which he approached him now, falling at 
 his feet before all the crowd in a passion of entreaty. 
 
 23. My little daughter : a fond diminutive, a term of endear- 
 ment used only by Mark. It is from Luke (viii. 42) we learn she 
 was his only daughter. 
 
 at the point of death : lit. ' is in extremity.' Luke says ' she 
 lay a dying.' Matthew, who says nothing of the message from 
 the house, but gives a very concise statement in which the ruler's 
 position is described in its final stage, represents him as sa}ing, 
 ' My daughter is even now dead.' 
 
 lay thy hands on her. Luke omits this, but Matthew gives 
 it. The laying on of hands in cases of healing is mentioned again 
 in vi. 5. vii. 32, viii. 23. 25, xvi. 18. So, too. in Acts ix. 17, 
 xxviii. 8. 
 
176 ST. MARK 5. 32-35 
 
 thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 
 
 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done 
 
 33 this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, 
 knowing what had been done to her, came and fell 
 
 34 down before him, and told him all the truth. And he 
 said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole ; 
 go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. 
 
 35 While he yet spake, they come from the ruler of 
 
 31. sayest thou, Who touched me? A question answering a 
 question. To the disciples it seemed out of place to think of 
 identifying any one individual's touch when there was about him 
 a crowd so great that it was like to crush him. 
 
 32. And he looked round about to see. Another of those 
 details which lead us to conclude that Mark's narrative was based 
 on first-hand acquaintance with the facts. Jesus did not know 
 who had been benefited by the power that had gone forth from 
 him, and he cast his eyes around in search of anything that 
 might indicate the person. 
 
 33. told him all the truth. Luke puts it even more strongly — 
 ' declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she 
 touched him.' A trial it must have been to her womanly feeling, 
 yet timid and trembling as she was, she came forward and kept 
 nothing back from the Healer or from the people. 
 
 34. Daughter : a name given by our Lord to no other woman 
 but this. She had made a great venture in faith, and it was for 
 her faith's sake that Jesus confirmed the healing and gave her the 
 word of peace. 
 
 In the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemns (v. 26) the woman is 
 said to have been called Veronica. Eusebius {Hist. Eccles. vii. 18) 
 mentions the tradition that she was a native of Csesarea Philippi 
 or Paneas. He adds that her house was shown there, and that 
 there stood at its gates on an elevated stone a brazen image of the 
 woman in the attitude of a suppliant stretching out her hands to 
 another figure supposed to represent our Lord. Eusebius tells 
 us that this statue of our Lord remained till his own day, and 
 was seen by him. 
 
 v. 35-43. Continuation of the story of J aims and his daughu > : 
 cf. Matt. ix. 23-26 ; Luke viii. 49-56. 
 
 35. While he yet spake. The interruption which had brought 
 health and grace to one sufferer meant something sadly different 
 to another. What a burden it must have been to the ruler's faith i 
 It had arrested Jesus on his way to one who seemed to nee>~< 
 
ST. MARK 5. 36-39 J 77 
 
 the synagogue's house, saying, Thy daughter is dead : 
 why troublest thou the Master any further? But Jesus, 36 
 not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the ruler of 
 the synagogue, Fear not, only believe. And he suffered 37 
 no man to follow with him, save Peter, and James, 
 and John the brother of James. And they come to the 38 
 house of the ruler of the synagogue ; and he beholdeth 
 a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly. And 39 
 
 his help even more urgently than the woman. It had delayed 
 him indeed till there appeared to be no more need of his com- 
 passionate service. Messengers came from the ruler's house 
 announcing the damsel's death. They came with these sad 
 tidings, too, just at the moment when the Lord was speaking his 
 word of blessing to the woman and became again free to pass on. 
 why troublest thou the Master (i. e. the Teacher or Rabbi ) 
 any further? The word meant originally to flay, and in later 
 Greek to harass or inconvenience. It did not seem to occur to 
 them that he who could heal might also recall the vanished life. 
 So far as the Gospels shew, only on one occasion up to this time 
 had Jesus raised the dead to life, and that had been in another 
 part of Galilee (Luke vii. 11. &c. . 
 
 36. not heeding-. The A. V. makes it ' heard the word,' and 
 the margin of the R.V. gives 'overhearing. 1 But it is rather 
 as in the R. V. text. Jesus did hear what was said by the 
 messengers, but he took no notice of it. Instead of saying any- 
 thing of it, he spoke a word of assurance and also of counsel to 
 the ruler. 
 
 3*7. suffered no man to follow. Up to this critical point he 
 had done nothing to check the crowd. Now he separates himself 
 from all, even from his disciples, with the exception of Peter, 
 and James, and John. This is the first appearance of the select 
 circle of three within the chosen circle of the Twelve. 
 
 38. a tumult . . . weeping 1 and wailing greatly. Matthew 
 mentions also ' the flute-players.' The noisy lamentations indulged 
 in at Jewish funerals, the professional performers, the 'mourning 
 women,' the doleful music of the minstrels, &c, are often referred 
 to in the O. T. (Eccles. xii. 5 ; Jer. ix. 17 ; Amos v. 16 ; 2 Chron. 
 xxxv. 25). Of these unrestrained Oriental waj^s of shewing 
 grief Van Lennep says — ' As soon as death takes place the female 
 members of the household and the professional mourning-women 
 announce it to the neighbourhood by setting up their shrill and 
 piercing cry — called the tahlil — which is heard at a great distance 
 and above every other noise, even the din of battle, and is quite 
 
 N 
 
178 ST. MARK 5. 40-42 
 
 when he was entered in, he saith unto them, Why 
 make ye a tumult, and weep? the child is not dead, 
 
 40 but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But 
 he, having put them all forth, taketh the father of the 
 child and her mother and them that were with him, 
 
 41 and goeth in where the child was. And taking the 
 child by the hand, he saith unto her, Talitha cumi; 
 which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, 
 
 4 2 Arise. And straightway the damsel rose up, and walked ; 
 
 characteristic of the East ' {Bible Lands, p. 586 ; cf. Clarke's Mark 
 and Luke, p. 80). 
 
 39. not dead, but sleepeth. He had not yet seen the damsel. 
 But by these words he does not mean that she was not really 
 dead. That life was gone was clear to all. But he puts a new 
 meaning upon her death. 
 
 40. they laughed him to scorn. So it is, in the same terms, 
 in all three Synoptists. These excitable mourners could turn 
 quickly from wailing to derision, and from derision again to 
 wailing. 
 
 put them all forth: better, 'ejected them all.' The word is 
 the same as is used of the expulsion of the traffickers in the 
 Temple (xi. 15), and suggests stern, authoritative command. It 
 was incongruous to have the noisy jeering crowd of mourners 
 and others about him on an occasion so solemn and so pathetic. 
 It was appropriate to have a few chosen companions as 
 witnesses of his action. Elijah was alone when he raised the 
 widow's son (1 Kings xvii. 17-24), and Elisha when he restored 
 the Shunammite's child (2 Kings iv. 32-37). Jesus has the stricken 
 parents and the select three with him in the chamber of death. 
 
 41. taking* the child hy the hand. The one thing done 
 in the way of visible instrumentality ; recorded by all three 
 Synoptists. 
 
 Talitha cumi: the original Aramaic words, treasured 
 doubtless in the heart of Peter, one of the hearers, and carefully 
 preserved by Mark his ' interpreter. 1 
 
 damsel. A word found repeatedly in the Greek version of 
 the O.T., but in the N. T. used only here and in the case of the 
 daughter of Herodias. 
 
 Arise. That is, ' waken out of thy sleep ! ' 
 
 42. straightway. The single word Arise! was enough. On 
 the instant life returned to the dead child ; and not only life but 
 strength — she 'rose up,' and she 'walked.' 
 
ST. MARK 5. 43—6. 2 179 
 
 for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed 
 straightway with a great amazement. And he charged 43 
 them much that no man should know this : and he 
 commanded that something should be given her to eat. 
 
 And he went out from thence ; and he cometh into 6 
 his own country ; and his disciples follow him. And 2 
 
 for she was twelve years old. An explanation of her walk- 
 ing. Though a child, she was old enough to be capable of that. 
 
 43. charged them much. There were witnesses enough of 
 the miracle ; but they were enjoined not to publish it abroad. 
 To do so then might have no better result than to kindle popular 
 excitement and mistaken, premature expectations which, instead 
 of helping his real work, would hinder and confuse it. 
 
 given her to eat. A second charge, revealing his considerate 
 attention to details. The child's immediate need was not over- 
 looked. That she should have food shewed also how complete 
 her recovery was, and how natural her condition. 
 
 vi. 1-6. Visit to Nazareth and Rejection there : cf. Matt. xiii. 
 53-58. See also Luke iv. 16-30. The difficulty here is as to the 
 relations in which the three narratives stand to each other. 
 Matthew's narrative is in most respects a pretty close parallel 
 to Mark's. There are also resemblances between these two and 
 the third narrative in Luke. So that not a few suppose all three to 
 be versions of one and the same event. There are, however, 
 noticeable differences between Luke's account and the others. 
 Luke places the visit which he records at the very beginning 
 of our Lord's ministry ; he dwells upon the fierce wrath of the 
 townsfolk ; and he connects their murderous intentions with our 
 Lord's departure to Capernaum. Luke's narrative, therefore, 
 appears to refer to an earlier visit ; while Matthew and Mark 
 deal with a second visit, made perhaps with the twofold purpose 
 of renewing his relations with his mother and his brothers and 
 endeavouring again to commend himself to his fellow townsmen. 
 Nor is there any improbability in the supposition that he should 
 have made two visits to his old home, and that these should have 
 had much in common as regards both his message and the reception 
 given him. 
 
 1. from thence : from the house of Jai'rus, or from the city or 
 district in which it was. Probably his wish was to get away from 
 these hampering crowds. 
 
 his own country : that is, Nazareth and its parts. Neither 
 Mark nor Matthew mentions it by name here, but it was there he 
 spent his youth and there that his people lived (Luke iv. 16). 
 
 N 2 
 
180 ST. MARK 6. 3 
 
 when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the 
 synagogue : and many hearing him were astonished, 
 saying, Whence hath this man these things ? and, 
 What is the wisdom that is given unto this man, and 
 what mean such mighty works wrought by his hands? 
 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother 
 of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon ? and are 
 
 2. began to teach. He came accompanied by his disciples, 
 not as a private visitor, but as one with a mission to fulfil, and he 
 took the first opportunity of delivering his message — in the syna- 
 gogue on his first sabbath. 
 
 astonished. The impression made by his words on this 
 occasion was different from that produced by the visit recorded 
 in Luke's Gospel. Amazement was the effect now, murderous 
 fury the effect then. 
 
 mighty works : ' powers,' i. e. miraculous powers. The 
 report had reached them of miracles done by his means. They 
 are astonished at the change in him indicated by the teaching 
 which they had listened to and by the works of which they had 
 heard something. 
 
 3. the carpenter. The only occasion on which he is called 
 explicitly ' the carpenter.' In Matthew he is ' the carpenter's 
 son.' Every Jew had to learn a trade. Jesus would naturally 
 learn the one followed by Joseph, and would work in his shop at 
 Nazareth. The Apocryphal gospels have much that is extravagant 
 to say of him in this connexion. Justin Martyr tells us that in his 
 time (the middle of the second century) rakes, harrows, and other 
 articles were preserved which were said to have been made by 
 Jesus. The Gospel of the Infancy represents him as setting Joseph 
 right when he blundered in his work. 
 
 son of Mary. There is no reference to Joseph. Hence 
 it has been inferred that Mary was now widowed. Joseph is 
 mentioned, however, in Luke's narrative of the earlier visit (iv. 22). 
 He passes now out of sight, whether he had died in the interval 
 or still survived. 
 
 brother of James. As to the brothers of Jesus see on iii. 31. 
 Their names are given only here and in Matt. xiii. 55. 
 
 James : the head of the Church of Jerusalem, as appears 
 from Acts xii. 17, xv. 13, xxi. 18 ; called by Paul ' the Lord's 
 brother ' (Gal. i. 19) ; mentioned also as one of the three ' pillars ' 
 (Gal. ii. 9, 12) ; the probable author of the Epistle of James. 
 
 Joses. In Matthew 'Joseph' (xiii. 55). 
 
 Judas. The probable author of the Epistle of J tide. Eusebius 
 
ST. MARK 6. 4-6 1S1 
 
 not his sisters here with us? And they were offended 
 in him. And Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not 4 
 without honour, save in his own country, and among 
 his own kin, and in his own house. And he could 5 
 there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands 
 upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he mar- 6 
 veiled because of their unbelief. 
 
 {Hist. Ecd. iii. 20), quoting from Hegesippus, an historian of the 
 second century, speaks of the ' grandchildren of Judas, called the 
 brother of our Lord,' as living in the time of the Emperor Domitian 
 (a. d. 81-96). 
 
 Simon. Mentioned also in the parallel passage in Matthew, 
 but nowhere else. He is identified hy some with Simon the 
 Cananaean, and by others with the martyr Symeon, the head of 
 the Jerusalem Church after the death of James ; but in neither 
 case on any sufficient basis of fact. 
 
 his sisters. Their names are never given. All that we 
 know of them is that they lived in Nazareth, as the present passage 
 indicates. This (with the parallel in Matt. xiii. 56. is the only 
 mention of them in the Gospels, unless it be, according to one 
 form of the text, in Mark iii. 312. In Acts i. 14 Mary and the 
 brethren are noticed as among those who continued in prayer 
 in Jerusalem. But nothing is said of the sisters. 
 
 offended in him. First ' astonished,' and then ' scandalized.' 
 The difference between what his teaching and the ' powers ' 
 reported to be in his hands made him now to be, and what they 
 knew him to have been, was too much for them. 
 
 4. A prophet is not without honour. Compare what is 
 said of Jeremiah and the men of Anathoth (Jer. xi. 21). His 
 use of this proverb was an indirect claim to the rank of a 
 prophet. 
 
 and among 1 his own kin. Mark alone inserts this — the 
 sentence in which he names the sharpest pang in a bitter trial. 
 
 5. could ... do no mighty work. Matthew saj's simply, 'he 
 did not many mighty works.' The inability declared by Mark was 
 a moral inability, not any physical arrest put upon his 'powers.' 
 The moral conditions were wanting. 
 
 a few sick folk. There were, therefore, exceptions ; some 
 ' hidden ones ' with a claim upon his compassion and with the 
 inward preparation for the healing gift. 
 
 6. marvelled. It belonged to the integrity of his human nature 
 that he was capable of real wonder as of real love and pity. ' The 
 surprises of life/ says Dr. Swete, ' especially those which belong 
 
i82 ST. MARK 6. 7-9 
 
 And he went round about the villages teaching. 
 
 7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to 
 send them forth by two and two; and he gave them 
 
 8 authority over the unclean spirits ; and he charged them 
 that they should take nothing for their journey, save a 
 staff only ; no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse ; 
 
 9 but to go shod with sandals : and, said he, put not on 
 
 to its ethical and spiritual side, created genuine astonishment in 
 the human mind of Christ.' The faith of the centurion (Matt. viii. 
 10), and the prejudiced unbelief of the men of Nazareth, were both 
 among these 'surprises of life' to him. They are the only cases 
 in which ivonder is definitely attributed "to him. 
 
 vi. 7-13. Mission of the Twelve : cf. Matt. ix. 35 — x. 1, x. 5 — xi. 1 ; 
 Luke ix. 1-6. This mission is given at much greater length by 
 Matthew than by Mark and Luke. His work being defeated in 
 Nazareth by the prejudiced attitude of the people, he leaves the 
 town, and begins a teaching tour among the villages. The extent 
 of this tour is not distinctly indicated in any of the narratives, 
 but there is no reason to suppose that it was confined to the 
 immediate neighbourhood of Nazareth itself. 
 
 7. began to send them forth. The Twelve had an official 
 position, and were originally destined for missionary service. He 
 had been preparing them for that, and now he sends them forth on 
 their first definite mission. 
 
 by two and two. Mark alone notices this arrangement. 
 Each would thus help the other, and their testimony would be 
 more telling. As they went forth in pairs, six different districts 
 could be overtaken. 
 
 authority over the unclean spirits. From Matthew and 
 Luke we see that their commission embraced also healing and 
 preaching. 
 
 8. nothing" . . . save a staff only. They were to be content 
 with the simplest equipment. Usually journeys in the East were 
 carefully prepared for. These men were to go forth promptly 
 and as they were, taking neither bread, nor wallet, nor money, 
 nor anything beyond the staff which every traveller carried. 
 Matthew says ' nor staff, 1 and Luke ' neither staff, nor wallet.' 
 Mark's ' save a staff only,' is much the same as ' at most 
 a staff.' The 'wallet' or 'scrip' (A. V.) was a leathern bag, 
 swung over the shoulder, containing food for the journey. The 
 'purse' was the loose girdle, in the folds of which the money 
 was placed. 
 
 9. shod with sandals: the simplest covering for the feet. 
 
ST. MARK 0. io-r 4 183 
 
 two coats. And he said unto them, Wheresoever ye 10 
 enter into a house, there abide till ye depart thence. 
 And whatsoever place shall not receive you, and they n 
 hear you not, as ye go forth thence, shake off the 
 dust that is under your feet for a testimony unto them. 
 And they went out, and preached that ?nen should 12 
 repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed 13 
 with oil many that were sick, and healed them. 
 
 And king Herod heard thereof; for his name had 14 
 
 Shoes also were worn by Jews, costly shoes, such as were in 
 use among the Babylonians, furnished with upper leather. 
 
 two coats. As Mark puts it, it is the wearing of two coats 
 on this journey that is forbidden ; as Matthew and Luke express 
 it, it is the possession of two coats that is in view. They were 
 to encumber themselves with nothing that would be unsuitable for 
 plain men going about among ordinary folk. The ' coat ' or ' tunic ' 
 was the garment worn under the cloak. In the case of the poor it 
 might be the only garment. 
 
 10. there abide till ye depart thence. They were not to 
 gad about from house to house, but to continue with the family 
 that received them so long as they remained in the place. 
 
 11. shake off the dust: a symbolical act of renunciation. It 
 was a testimony to the inhospitable that they were put upon a 
 level with the heathen. 
 
 12. should repent. The burden of their preaching, therefore, 
 was that with which both the Baptist and the Master began. 
 
 13. anointed with oil. This was a common specific with Jewish 
 physicians. Only once again in the N. T. is it referred to in 
 connexion with healing, viz. in Jas. v. 14. Though the Twelve 
 used unction, it is not said that Jesus himself employed it in any 
 of his works. 
 
 vi. 14-16. Herod's fear: cf. Matt. xiv. 1, 2; Luke ix. 7-9. 
 The report of the miracles done by the Twelve reaches the tetrarch. 
 He concludes that Jesus must be John risen from the dead. 
 
 14. king-: here a title of courtesy only, the proper designation 
 being tetrarch, as in Matthew and Luke. The • tetrarch,' properly 
 speaking, was the governor of the fourth part of a country or 
 province. Under the Empire it was a title of tributary princes of 
 less than regal rank. In the N. T. it is given to three rulers, 
 the Herod of this passage, Herod Philip ' tetrarch of the region 
 of Ituraea and Trachonitis' (Luke iii. 1), and Lysanias 'tetrarch 
 of Abilene' (Luke iii. 1). 
 
184 ST. MARK 6. 15-17 
 
 become known : and he said, John the Baptist is risen 
 from the dead, and therefore do these powers work 
 
 15 in him. But others said, It is Elijah. And others 
 said, It is a prophet, even as one of the prophets. 
 
 16 But Herod, when he heard thereof, said, John, whom 
 
 Herod : that is, Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and 
 Malthace a Samaritan ; tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea by his 
 father's will ; married first to a daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia 
 Petraea, and then to Herodias. He is the Herod to whom our 
 Lord was sent by Pilate (Luke xiii. 6, &c). In the Gospels he 
 appears as a sensual, cunning, capricious, cruel, weak, unscru- 
 pulous, superstitious, despotic prince (Matt. xiv. 9; Luke iii. 19, 
 xiii. 31, 32, &c). He founded the city of Tiberias in honour of 
 the emperor. Losing the favour of Caligula, he was condemned 
 to perpetual banishment at Lyons and died in exile. 
 
 heard thereof: that is, of the miracles wrought by the 
 Twelve. These latest events and others before them had made 
 the name of Jesus widely known. 
 
 and he said, John the Baptist is risen from the dead: 
 rather ' the Baptizer.' For the term used here is not the official 
 name, but a designation more appropriate on the lips of Herod. 
 The margin of the R. V. notices the ancient reading ' they said/ 
 according to which it was the popular belief (which Herod, 
 therefore, had accepted) that John had reappeared in Jesus. 
 
 therefore do these powers work in him. John did no 
 miracle during his lifetime. But if he had indeed risen from the 
 dead, it would not be strange that new powers, supernatural 
 powers, should be active in him. 
 
 15. others said, It is Elijah. Various opinions were taken, 
 however, of the extraordinary person called Jesus. If some took 
 him to be John risen, others thought he must be the promised 
 Elijah, while others still held him to be not indeed that great 
 figure among the prophets, but at least ' a prophet, even as one of 
 the prophets,' that is, a true prophet, like one of the recognized 
 order of prophets. 
 
 16. John, whom I beheaded, he is risen. This is what Herod 
 himself feels that Jesus must be. He speaks under the stress 
 of an evil conscience — 'he whom I (the emphasis is on the/) 
 beheaded, this man is risen.' Whether Herod was a Sadducee 
 or not, he was an utter worldling. But his guilty conscience 
 drove him for the moment into belief in the resurrection of the 
 dead, and into the conviction that of the different explanations 
 given of Jesus the right one was that which identified him with 
 John. 
 
ST. MARK G. is 185 
 
 I beheaded, he is risen. For Herod himself had sent 17 
 forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in 
 prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's 
 wife : for he had married her. For John said unto 18 
 
 vi. 17-29. The Story of Joint's Imprisonment and Death. An 
 episode introduced in explanation of Herod's view of Jesus. 
 Cf. Matt. xiv. 3-12 ; also Luke iii. 19, 20. Luke gives only a brief 
 statement of what led to John's imprisonment. Mark's account 
 is the fullest. 
 
 17. Por Herod himself. Mark represents the seizure of the 
 Baptist as emphatically Herod's own act. Where he arrested him, 
 whether at iEnon (John iii. 23) or elsewhere, is not stated. But 
 the circumstances that led him to take the fatal step are related at 
 length. 
 
 in prison. According to Josephus {Anttq. xviii. 5. 2) the 
 prison was the strong fortress of Machaerus in Peraea, the modern 
 Mkaur, known as the ' diadem ' and the ' black-tower ' or ' black- 
 fortress,' some miles to the east of the northern end of the Dead 
 Sea. It had been fortified at an early date, then demolished by 
 Gabinius and fortified anew by Herod the Great. It was in the 
 possession of the King of Arabia, according to Josephus (Antiq. 
 xviii. 5. 1', in the time of Herod Antipas. How it came into the 
 hands of the latter we are not informed. Canon Tristram found 
 two dungeons among the ruins at Mkaur, still shewing in their 
 masonry the holes in which staples of wood or iron once had been 
 fastened. He thinks one of these may have been the prison-house 
 of John. See his Land of Moab, chap. xiv. 
 
 Herodias. Daughter of Aristobulus, son of Herod the Great 
 and Mariamne, the beautiful daughter of Simon the high priest. 
 She was the sister of Agrippa I — the Herod who killed James with 
 the sword, imprisoned Peter, and died by the horrible death re- 
 ported in the N. T. (Acts xii. 1-3, 23'. Her mother was Bernice 
 or Berenice, daughter of Salome, Herod's sister. Herodias 
 was married first to Herod, one of the sons of Herod the Great, 
 whom she left for Antipas. Ambition, it would seem, led her to 
 enter into the union with Herod, who had become enamoured of 
 her on one of his journeys to Rome. Her ambition also proved 
 the ruin of Antipas. 
 
 his brother Philip's wife. This member of the Herodian 
 family is to be distinguished from the Philip who is referred to in 
 Luke's Gospel as the ' tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and 
 Trachonitis' (iii. 1). The latter was the son of Herod the Great 
 and Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and is described by Josephus as 
 
1 86 ST. MARK 6. 19-21 
 
 Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's 
 
 19 wife. And Herodias set herself against him, and desired 
 
 20 to kill him ; and she could not ; for Herod feared John, 
 knowing that he was a righteous man and a holy, and 
 kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was 
 
 21 much perplexed; and he heard him gladly. And when 
 a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday 
 
 a prince 'moderate and peaceful in his rule' {Antiq. xviii. 4. 1). 
 The former was Herod, called also Philip, as appears from this 
 passage and Matt. xiv. 3, son of Herod the Great and Mariamne. 
 This Herod or Philip spent a private, undistinguished life. The 
 fact that he was the first spouse of Herodias has kept his name 
 alive. 
 
 18. not lawful. Philip, the husband of Herodias, was still alive. 
 Antipas's wife, the daughter of Aretas, also was alive. She had 
 been living with her husband, and fled to her father only when 
 she heard of the determination of Antipas to have Herodias. 
 Further, Herodias was niece to Antipas. 
 
 19. set herself against him. She was not content with seeing 
 John cast into prison, but nursed her grudge against him and 
 watched her opportunity to compass his death. 
 
 20. feared John. The Baptist's character made itself felt. The 
 voluptuary whom he had boldly rebuked had a salutary regard for 
 him, and perhaps dreaded, too, what might happen if he made away 
 with him. 
 
 kept him safe : better than the ' observed him ' of the A. V. 
 Herod protected John against the malign designs of Herodias. He 
 even continued to hear him from time to time, and did so gladly. 
 It is not said where this took place. It may have been in the 
 fortress-palace occupied by Antipas near the prison at Machaerus. 
 Antipas also may have sent for John to Tiberias now and again ; 
 for the Baptist appears to have been a considerable time in prison, 
 perhaps a year and a half, and he was visited by his disciples. 
 These things are recorded to the credit of Antipas. They are the 
 only favourable things said of him in the Gospels. Matthew says 
 that Herod himself would have put John to death, but was re- 
 strained by his fear of the people (xiv. 5). Josephus also ascribes 
 to Herod the intention to kill John {Antiq. xviii. 5. 2). 
 
 much perplexed : a better reading than the ' did many 
 things' of the A. V. He was in a strait between his sense of the 
 righteousness of John and the monitions of his conscience on 
 the one hand, and the attractions and insistence of Herodias on the 
 other. 
 
ST. MARK 6. 2 .- 2 r, 187 
 
 made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and 
 the chief men of Galilee; and when the daughter of 22 
 Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased 
 Herod and them that sat at meat with him ; and the 
 king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou 
 wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, 23 
 Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, 
 unto the half of my kingdom. And she went out, 24 
 and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And 
 she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she 25 
 came in straightway with haste unto the king, and 
 asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me in 
 a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king 26 
 
 21. lords, magnates, the most important civil officers; high, 
 captains, the military chiefs of the district, the military tribunes 
 or colonels ; chief men of Galilee, the provincials of highest 
 rank. 
 
 22. the daughter of Herodias herself. Her name was 
 Salome. To gain her fell purpose the great Herodias. the wife 
 of a tetrarch and daughter of a king, stooped to send her child 
 to take part in the voluptuous and degrading dances characteristic 
 of such riotous feasts. The daughter of 'Herodias herself — none 
 else was likely to take Herod on the yielding side. The margin 
 of the R. V. notices a curious old reading which would make 
 the dancing-girl a daughter of Antipas himself, bearing her 
 mother's name. 
 
 23. the half of my kingdom. So with Ahasuerus and Esther 
 (Esther v. 3, vii. 2). 
 
 25. came in straightway. Thinking no doubt of her own 
 advantage the girl went out to consult her mother. Herodias 
 kept her not a moment. Her answer was sharp and short — her 
 enemy's head. Before Antipas could think twice of his rash 
 promise the damsel was back with her demand. 
 
 I will that thou forthwith give me. Her request is 
 peremptory and pert. John being in the prison at hand, she 
 knew it could be at once made good, and was determined to have 
 it so. She did this, ' being put forward by her mother,' as 
 Matthew explains. 
 
 a charger. A plate or flat dish large enough to hold 
 a joint of meat — an assictte. Homer uses it of the wooden 
 trencher on which meat was placed. 
 
1 88 ST. MARK 6. 27-30 
 
 was exceeding sorry ; but for the sake of his oaths, and 
 
 27 of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her. And 
 straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, 
 and commanded to bring his head : and he went and 
 
 28 beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in 
 a charger, and gave it to the damsel ; and the damsel 
 
 29 gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard 
 thereof, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it 
 in a tomb. 
 
 30 And the apostles gather themselves together unto 
 
 26. exceeding 1 sorry. His respect for John and his wish to 
 protect him would make him genuinely and grievously vexed. 
 But his sorrow could not prevail against his mistaken sense of 
 honour and his false consideration for the opinion of his guests. 
 
 his oaths. He had repeated his promise, then, once and 
 again, in the loud and swaggering terms, we may imagine, of 
 the reveller. Too late he saw how rashly he had bound himself. 
 
 reject her. Rather, ' refuse her,' or ' break faith with her.' 
 
 27. a soldier of his guard. The original term is a Latin 
 term, designating a scout. In the times of the Empire it 
 became the name of a member of the Roman Emperor's body- 
 guard. One of the duties of these guards was to carry out 
 orders of execution. Antipas followed the Roman custom. 
 ' Straightway,' says Mark, the King dispatched the soldier. We 
 can picture to ourselves what passed. Antipas, chagrined and 
 vexed, would give the command in a gruff sentence. The soldier 
 would at once march from the banquet-hall to the dungeon, and 
 in a trice the bloody deed would be done. The prisoner would 
 have neither warning of his end nor time for any farewell. Swift, 
 tragic, staggering close to a life of high service and fearless 
 rectitude ! 
 
 28. gave it to her mother. The daughter knew it to be the 
 mother's triumph and the mother's possession. 'The Cathedral 
 Church of Amiens claims to be in present possession of the head ' 
 (Swete). 
 
 29. in a tomb. We know not where, but it was probably in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of Machaerus. Matthew adds that 
 John's disciples, after they had paid their last sad tribute of honour 
 to him by burying him, • went and told Jesus ' t^xiv. 12). Some 
 had joined Jesus before. Others, who had kept by John, would 
 have the more reason now to attach themselves to Jesus. 
 
 vi. 30-33. Return of the Twelve. Cf. Matt. xiv. 13 ; Luke ix. 
 
ST. MARK 6. 31J32 189 
 
 Jesus ; and they told him all things, whatsoever they 
 had done, and whatsoever they had taught. And he 31 
 saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert 
 place, and rest a while. For there were many coming 
 and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 
 And they went away in the boat to a desert place apart. 32 
 
 10, t 1 ; John vi. 1-3. This brief paragraph is one of deep and varied 
 interest. It introduces the narrative of the great miracle of the 
 Five Thousand. It marks the point at which the narrative of 
 the four Gospels coincides for a time. It is remarkable also for the 
 insight it gives us into the Lord's thoughtful care for the Twelve. 
 
 30. the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus. 
 The death of the Baptist and the return of the Twelve took place 
 in spring, as we infer from John's reference to the Passover as at 
 hand (vi. 4;. There would be only about a year of our Lord's public 
 ministry yet to run. The place to which the Twelve returned is 
 not stated. Probably it was Capernaum or its neighbourhood. 
 The Twelve have here the official name of 'Apostles.' This 
 is the only occasion on which Mark gives them the title. It has 
 a special appropriateness here in the report of their return from 
 their first official mission. Usually Mark employs the less specific 
 name ' disciples.' 
 
 told him all things. They gave a full report both of their 
 teaching and of their works. Nothing is said, however, either 
 of their success or of their Master's estimate of their labours. 
 
 31. Come ye yourselves apart. His concern was that they 
 should have the privacy and rest which they needed after the 
 novel experiences and the exertions of their mission. 
 
 into a desert place. Mark does not identify the place. 
 Luke says 'to a city called Bethsaida' (ix. 10); which may 
 mean simply in the direction of a city so named. There were 
 many quiet, unfrequented spots in the neighbourhood of the lake, 
 especially on the eastern side and at the northern end, but also on 
 the western side. 
 
 many coming and going. Rest was not to be had, if they 
 remained at the head quarters of their Master's ministry for the 
 time. Streams of visitors, drawn thither by the fame of his 
 works, and increased by the approach of the great Jewish festival 
 (John vi. 4), kept them ever in movement and broke in even on 
 their meals. These details are given only b}^ Mark. 
 
 32. in the boat: this indicates that they were not far from the 
 lake. 
 
 to a desert place apart. Their course seems to have been 
 eastwards by the end of the lake, and the place where they 
 
igo ST. MARK 6. 33-35 
 
 33 And the people saw them going, and many knew them, 
 and they ran there together on foot from all the cities, 
 
 34 and outwent them. And he came forth and saw a great 
 multitude, and he had compassion on them, because 
 they were as sheep not having a shepherd : and he began 
 
 35 to teach them many things. And when the day was now 
 far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, The place 
 
 landed for retirement cannot have been far from Bethsaida, the 
 scene of the miracle that followed. 
 
 33. ran . . . together on foot. The disciples did not get the 
 rest which Jesus sought for them. Jesus and his party were 
 recognized, the course of the boat was seen, and the eager people 
 made their way by the shore to the expected place of landing. 
 
 outwent them. They were there indeed before those in the 
 boat themselves. This was possible enough. The distance across 
 the lake might be some four miles indeed, while by land it might 
 be more than twice as much. But good walkers could beat the 
 boat, if the wind was either adverse or insufficient. Mark alone 
 mentions this. 
 
 vi. 34-44. The Miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Cf. 
 Matt. xiv. 14-21 ; Luke ix. 12-17 5 John vi. 4-13. Here, too, we 
 have the conjoint narrative of the four Gospels. This is the only 
 miracle recorded by all the four. Of all the miracles reported in 
 the Gospels, this, too, is the one that was witnessed by the largest 
 gathering of spectators and in which the largest number of people 
 took part. 
 
 34. he came forth and saw. Not till he got out of the boat 
 did Jesus become aware of the^ state of things. His expectation 
 of quiet was defeated, but instead of giving way to the sense of 
 disappointment, he thought only of the needs of the people. 
 Luke tells us that he even 'welcomed them' (ix. 11). 
 
 as sheep not having a shepherd. The same phrase occurs 
 in Matt. ix. 36 (cf. also Num. xxvii. 17 ; 1 Kings xxii. 17 ; 
 2 Chron. xviii. 16 s ). His compassion was stirred by the spectacle 
 of the eager interest of those crowds who had been left so unin- 
 structed in the things of the kingdom of God by the recognized 
 teachers of the law. 
 
 began to teach them. And not only so, he also healed their 
 sick, as both Matthew and Luke tell us. 
 
 35. when the day was now far spent. Another interesting 
 note of time, indicating that the miracle took place shortly before 
 sunset, which at that season would be about six o'clock. 
 
ST. MARK 6. 36-39 191 
 
 is desert, and the day is now far spent : send them away, 36 
 that they may go into the country and villages round 
 about, and buy themselves somewhat to eat. But he 37 
 answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. 
 And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two 
 hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat ? 
 And he saith unto them, How many loaves have ye ? 38 
 go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and 
 two fishes. And he commanded them that all should 39 
 
 his disciples came unto him, and said. According to 
 John vi. 5), Jesus himself said to Philip, 'Whence are we to buy 
 bread, that these may eat ? ' The concern now expressed by the 
 disciples for the physical wants of the multitude may have been 
 prompted by the Lord's considerate question previously addressed 
 to one of them. 
 
 37. Give ye them to eat. The disciples would have had him 
 dismiss them and let them provide for themselves. He will have 
 them remain, and be provided for by the disciples. 
 
 Shall we go and "buy. The Lord's prompt word, ' Give ye 
 them to eat,' may well have seemed to them a direction to attempt 
 the impracticable. They think of their resources, and of what 
 might be required. 
 
 two hundred pennyworth of bread. A hasty, indeterminate 
 estimate, but one pointing to a considerable sum. Only Mark 
 and John mention the quantity of bread or the sum of money, 
 and John refers to the money only to declare it inadequate. 
 Luke omits this, and Matthew passes over the suggestion to 
 purchase. The 'penny' is a misleading rendering of the coin 
 in question — the denarius — all the more that, as has been noticed, 
 in most of its occurrences in the N. T. it suggests the idea of 
 a liberal sum. It varied in value from about 8 2 (/. to i\d. It was 
 the stated day's wage for a labouring man (Matt. xx. 2, &c). 
 'Shilling' would be a better rendering than 'penny.' Two 
 hundred denarii might represent something over £7 of our money. 
 It is not likely that the disciples had so much with them. But 
 even such a sum, distributed among 5,000 men, would mean only 
 about a third of a penny for each. 
 
 38. How many loaves have ye? Only Mark tells us that the 
 disciples were sent to find this out. John introduces Andrew 
 here, and tells us that there were five loaves and two fishes in 
 the hand of a lad who was present v vi. 8, 9). 
 
192 ST. MARK 6. 40-43 
 
 40 sit down by companies upon the green grass. And 
 they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 
 
 41 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and 
 looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake the loaves ; 
 and he gave to the disciples to set before them ; and 
 
 42 the two fishes divided he among them all. And they 
 
 43 did all eat, and were filled. And they took up broken 
 
 39. sit down by companies. The instruction that they should 
 be so arranged was given through the disciples, as we learn 
 from Luke and John. Provision was thus made for an orderly 
 disposition of the crowd. 
 
 upon the green grass. Both Matthew and John mention that 
 they were seated on the grass, on which they could recline at ease, 
 as Jews were accustomed to do on couches at table. John notices 
 also that there was ' much grass in the place.' Only Mark notices 
 its greenness. In early spring the grass would be peculiarly fresh 
 and attractive. Later it would become scorched and brown. 
 
 40. they sat down. That they acted at once on the instructions 
 of the disciples meant that they trusted them and looked for 
 something to happen. 
 
 in ranks : lit. i in garden beds.' This has been taken to 
 mean in parterres, as if the point of comparison was the flower- 
 bed, and the idea that of the picturesque appearance presented 
 by the people thus arranged in sets with the bright variegated 
 colours of their clothing. But the word is used ordinarily of the 
 beds of garden herbs, and the idea seems to be the simpler one 
 of the regular rectangular arrangement in groups of fifties and 
 hundreds. Order would thus be preserved, and the matter of 
 distribution as well as of counting made easy. Matthew and 
 John do not mention the sizes of the ranks. Luke notices only 
 the arrangement in companies, ' about fifty each.' 
 
 41. he took the five loaves and the two fishes. Jesus was 
 recognized as the Master and Host, and the provisions were 
 brought to him as such. 
 
 looking up to heaven : that is, in the attitude of prayer. See 
 also in the O. T. Job xxii. 26, and in the Gospels Mark vii. 34, 
 John xi. 41. 
 
 blessed: that is, 'gave thanks. 1 In John it is 'having given 
 thanks' (vi. 11). 
 
 42. were filled. The word is a strong one, indicating that 
 the provision made was large enough to give each as much as 
 he wished, even of the fishes. So John puts it — ' likewise also 
 of the fishes as much as they would 1 (vi. 11). 
 
ST. MARK 6. 44,45 193 
 
 pieces, twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes. And 44 
 they that ate the loaves were five thousand men. 
 
 And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter 45 
 
 43. twelve basketfuls : it was by the direction of the Master 
 that the broken pieces left over were carefulty gathered (John 
 vi. ia). The quantity taken up shewed the liberal measure of the 
 provision. The word for basket here is the same in all the four 
 narratives, and is different from that mentioned in the subsequent 
 narrative of the Four Thousand. This denotes the common 
 wicker basket which a Jew took with him for the purpose of 
 carrying his provisions. It has been suggested that the twelve 
 baskets used on this occasion may have been those in which the 
 Twelve Apostles had carried the food which they required on 
 their missionary journey recently finished. 
 
 44. five thousand men. That is men as distinguished from 
 women and children. Matthew says expressly 'beside women 
 and children' (xiv. 21). These would not sit down with the 
 men. 
 
 From Luke (ix. 10) we gather that the scene of this stupendous 
 and most humane miracle was at or near { a city called Bethsaida.' 
 That is the Bethsaida which is known to have been planted on the 
 northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, east of the Jordan, in the 
 district of the Lower Gaulonitis, near where the river enters 
 the Lake. It was raised from the rank of a village to that of a 
 ' city ' by Philip the Tetrarch, who also attached to it the name 
 Julias in honour of Julia, the daughter of Augustus. Its site is 
 supposed by modern travellers to be found at et- Tell near where 
 the Jordan enters the green, grassy plain called el-Bateiha, or at 
 Mas'adiyeh in the same plain, but nearer the Lake and at the 
 river's mouth. 
 
 vi. 45-52. The incident of the Walking on the Sea : cf. Matt. xiv. 
 22-33 5 John vi. 16-21. We have no longer the fourfold narrative, 
 for Luke drops out. But it is of importance to notice the agree- 
 ment of John at this point also with the Synoptical narrative as 
 represented by two of the writers. 
 
 45. And straightway he constrained his disciples. The 
 explanation of this is found in John's Gospel. It alone informs us 
 of the impression produced by the miracle of the Five Thousand. 
 It was great and immediate. The people confessed Jesus to be 
 'of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world.' They would 
 even have taken him b}' force and made him a king (vi. 14, 15). 
 This determined him to withdraw 'into the mountain himself 
 alone' (vi. 15). It made him also resolved to send the disciples 
 on before him. to the other side, while he himself dismissed the 
 
 O 
 
194 ST. MARK 6. 46-48 
 
 into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side 
 to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude 
 
 46 away. And after he had taken leave of them, he 
 
 47 departed into the mountain to pray. And when even 
 was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and 
 
 48 he alone on the land. And seeing them distressed in 
 rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, about the 
 
 multitude. The disciples no doubt required to be constrained. 
 For it could not but seem strange to them that he should separate 
 himself from them, and send them away from the neighbourhood 
 of the very place he had chosen with a view to giving them rest. 
 
 unto the other side to Bethsaida. Matthew says simply 
 'to the other side,' without mentioning Bethsaida (xiv. 22). John 
 says 'over the sea unto Capernaum' (vi. 17). Their way, there- 
 fore, was westward across the Lake. Matthew and Mark both 
 state explicitly that they came at last to Gennesaret (Matt. xiv. 
 34 ; Mark vi. 53). Were there then two Bethsaidas, one on the 
 eastern side of the Lake, and another on the western ? To say 
 that there were two is the simplest explanation, though we have 
 no such evidence of the western Bethsaida as we have of Beth- 
 saida Julias. Some suppose that there was but one city of the 
 name, but that it was divided by the Jordan into an eastern part 
 and a western. Others think that all that is meant by the phrase 
 ' to the other side ' is to ' the opposite side of the little bay which 
 lay between the sloping ground where the miracle was wrought 
 and Philip's new city' (so Swete). But it is difficult to adjust 
 the different particulars of the narratives, the natural sense of c the 
 other side,' the express mention by Luke of Bethsaida, and others, 
 to these explanations or to any other supposition than that of the 
 existence of a Bethsaida on the western shore. 
 
 46. taken leave. The words are used of taking farewell of 
 friends. It was, therefore, a kindly, though decided, dismissal. 
 
 into the mountain. He had been on the height before (John 
 vi. 3), and had returned to its solitude. The death of John and 
 the attitude of the people made another crisis in his career, which 
 required prayer and thought. 
 
 47. when even was come. The miracle had taken place not 
 long before sunset. It was now dark, as John states (vi. 17), 
 and the wind had risen to a storm, and they were alone on the 
 treacherous sea as their Master was alone on the mount. 
 
 in the midst of the sea. They had rowed, says John 
 (vi. 19) 'about five and twenty or thirty furlongs' — little more 
 than halfway across. 
 
ST. MARK 6. 49-51 195 
 
 fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking 
 on the sea ; and he would have passed by them : but 49 
 they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed 
 that it was an apparition, and cried out : for they all 5° 
 saw him, and were troubled. But he straightway spake 
 with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer : it is 
 I ; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the .si 
 boat ; and the wind ceased : and they were sore amazed 
 
 48. the fourth watch. From the height Jesus had watched 
 their distress, and in due time went to their relief. The ' fourth 
 watch ' was from 3 to 6 a.m. The Jews reckoned by three 
 watches, theirs* or beginning of watches (sunset to 10 p.m.), the 
 middle watch do p.m. to 2 a.m.), and the morning watch (2 a.m. 
 to sunrise). The Romans reckoned by four watches, and this 
 was followed by the Jews of our Lord's time. And so it is in 
 Matthew and Mark. 
 
 would have passed by them: cf. Luke xxiv. 28. This is 
 reported only by Mark, and it means that it was the deliberate 
 purpose of Jesus to pass by them — no doubt to test them and 
 instruct their faith. 
 
 49. an apparition. Better than ' a spirit ' as in the A. V. ; cf. 
 Job iv. 15. &c, xx. 8. It is 'spirit,' not 'apparition,' on the other 
 hand in Luke's narrative of the appearance of the risen Lord 
 (xxiv. 37, 39). 
 
 cried out. Their faith failed them. They did not recognize 
 Jesus, nor did the thought suggest itself that he was likely to 
 come to them in their need. The figure looked spectral and 
 unsubstantial as it moved on the water, and they were terror- 
 stricken. 
 
 50. all saw him. It was not the delusion, therefore, of one 
 heated brain or perverted eye. 
 
 Be of good cheer : it is I ; toe not afraid. The words are 
 the same as reported also by Matthew and by John, except that 
 the latter omits the ' Be of good cheer.' Here again we have 
 in Mark's Gospel tokens of a narrative founded on the testimony 
 of eye and ear. The assuring word was spoken without delay. 
 The voice was recognized, though the figure was not, and the 
 terrors of the disciples were relieved. 
 
 51. went up unto them into the tooat. John does not speak 
 of him as having actually gone on board, but refers to the disciples 
 as purposing to take him in, when straightway the boat was 
 mysteriously brought to land. As another incident in the miracle 
 Mark adds that 'the wind ceased.' 
 
 O 2 
 
196 ST. MARK 6. 52, 53 
 
 52 in themselves ; for they understood not concerning the 
 loaves, but their heart was hardened. 
 
 53 And when they had crossed over, they came to the 
 
 sore amazed in themselves. They were profoundly moved 
 and staggered, so much so that they did not or could not give 
 expression to their thoughts. Matthew adds that they worshipped 
 him. 
 
 52. understood not concerning" the loaves. What they had 
 seen in connexion with the immediately preceding miracle should 
 have made this further miracle less of a difficulty to them. But it was 
 not so, and the reason for it was that ' their heart was hardened.' 
 That is, they were not in a state of mind to receive the proper 
 impression. The heart, according to Hebrew ideas, was the seat 
 of the intelligence, and not of the affections only. 
 
 Matthew attaches to this narrative the incident of Peter stepping 
 from the boat into the sea and essaying to walk on the water to 
 Jesus (xiv. 28-33). I* i s impossible to explain this miracle away 
 by saying that Jesus only walked upon the shore and was taken 
 by the disciples, panic-stricken and in the dark as they were, for 
 a spectre moving on the sea. The careful mention of the distance 
 they had rowed (25 or 30 furlongs) and the point they had reached 
 ('in the midst oi the sea'), and other particulars in the narrative, put 
 that out of the question. It belongs to the class of nature-miracles, 
 and is one of the strangest of these, as the feeding of the Five 
 Thousand is one of the most stupendous. 
 
 vi. 53-56. The ministry of Jesus in the Plain of Gennesaret : cf. 
 Matt. xiv. 34-36. This brief paragraph, which has no parallel in 
 Luke or in John, is one of the most graphic of all Mark's descrip- 
 tions. It bears in every line the marks of a transcript from the 
 report of a keen and interested eye-witness. 
 
 53. And when they had crossed over, they came to the land 
 unto Gennesaret. It may also be, as it is given in the margin of 
 the R. V., ' and when they had crossed over to the land, they came 
 unto Gennesaret.' So the place where they landed at last is 
 recorded by Mark to have been neither the Bethsaida to which 
 Luke tells us Jesus had withdrawn with the disciples (ix. 10), nor 
 the Capernaum to which John tells us they were going over the 
 sea (vi. 17), but a place some miles south of both. They had been 
 driven so far out of their course. This Gennesaret, from which 
 the lake seems to have taken one of its names, is supposed to be 
 the modern el-Ghuiveir, a charming plain on the western side, 
 some two-and-a-half or three miles long and a little more than 
 a mile broad. ' Such is the fertility of the soil, 1 says Josephus, 
 4 that it rejects no plant, and accordingly all are here cultivated 
 
ST. MARK 6. 54—7. i 197 
 
 land unto Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. And 54 
 when they were come out of the boat, straightway the 
 people knew him, and ran round about that whole region, 55 
 and began to carry about on their beds those that were 
 sick, where they heard he was. And wheresoever he 56 
 entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, 
 they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought 
 him that they might touch if it were but the border 
 of his garment : and as many as touched him were 
 made whole. 
 
 And there are gathered together unto him the Pharisees, 7 
 and certain of the scribes, which had come from Jerusalem, 
 
 by the husbandman, for so genial is the air that it suits every 
 variety. The walnut, which delights beyond other trees in a 
 wintry climate, grows here luxuriantly, together with the palm 
 which is nourished by the heat, and near to these are figs and 
 olives to which a milder atmosphere has been assigned.' He 
 speaks also in glowing terms of the * fruits of opposite climes,' of 
 which it ' maintains a continuous supply.' ' Thus it produces,' 
 he proceeds, ' those most royal of all, the grape and the fig, during 
 ten months, without intermission, while the other varieties ripen 
 the year round ; for besides being favoured by the genial tempera- 
 ture of the air, it is irrigated by a highly fertilizing spring, called 
 Capharnaum by the people of the country ' {Jewish War, iii. x. 8). 
 moored : the only occurrence of this word in Scripture. 
 
 55. beds : that is, pallets. 
 
 56. border of bis garment : see on ch. v. 27. 
 
 The paragraph gives a vivid picture of the rapidity with which 
 the news of the coming of Jesus spread, the intense faith of the 
 people in his power to heal, and the eagerness with which he was 
 welcomed alike in town and country. 
 
 vii. 1-23. Questions regarding washings : cf. Matt. xv. 1-9. 
 The fact that the disciples of Jesus were observed to eat without 
 performing the usual ceremonial ablutions was made a matter of 
 complaint. Jesus uses the occasion to expose the false ideas that 
 were current on the questions of tradition and defilement. 
 
 1. certain of tbe scribes, wbicb bad come from Jerusalem. 
 These have been mentioned in iii. 22. An opportunity for trying 
 him again with entangling questions is furnished by something 
 they had seen his disciples do. On what occasion they had 
 observed the practice in question is not stated. 
 
1 98 ST. MARK 7. 2-4 
 
 2 and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread 
 
 3 with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands. For the Pharisees, 
 and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, 
 
 4 eat not, holding the tradition of the elders : and when 
 they come from the marketplace, except they wash them- 
 selves, they eat not : and many other things there be, 
 which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and 
 
 2. defiled (or, common), that is, unwashen, hands. Mark 
 explains the technical Jewish term for the sake of his Gentile 
 readers. What is in view is the traditional ceremonial ablution, to 
 which great importance was attached. 
 
 3. the Pharisees, and all the Jews. This is the only instance 
 in which the term 'the Jews' is used by itself in Mark, although 
 we have also the designation 'the King of the Jews.' In John's 
 Gospel it has the more definite sense of Jews as opposed to 
 Christians, and in particular, the scribes, priests, members of 
 the council, and official classes generally as representatives of the 
 absolute hostility of the nation to Christ and his followers. It is 
 possible that it has something approaching that sense here. But 
 more probably it is a large and general application of the ordinary 
 sense, indicating that the practice, which had begun with the rigid 
 Pharisees, had got hold of the mass of the people. 
 
 diligently : the word is a difficult one, and is variously 
 rendered 'frequently,' 'up to the elbow,' 'to the wrist,' 'with 
 the fist,' &c. According to the last, which is the rendering 
 preferred by some of our best scholars, the idea is, that they 
 performed the scrupulous ceremonial act by placing the closed fist 
 in the hollow of the other hand and rubbing and rolling it there. 
 
 the tradition of the elders. That is, the rules which had 
 come down from the scribes of ancient times. In the Gospels the 
 word ' tradition ' occurs only here and in the parallel passage in 
 Matthew. It means the collection of oral interpretations of the 
 written Law of Moses which had been given by the Rabbis from 
 time to time and handed down from one generation to another. 
 Cf. ' the traditions of my fathers ' of which Paul wrote (Gal. i. 14). 
 
 4. except they wash themselves : rather, ' except they bathe 
 themselves/ The word is 'baptize,' a term always conveying in 
 its N. T. occurrences the idea of immersion. There were, therefore, 
 two kinds of ceremonial washing, first the washing of the hands, 
 which had to be done always before eating ; and second the taking 
 of a bath, which had to be done only when a Jew came from the 
 ' market-place,' where the number and the mixture of people made 
 the risk of defilement so great. 
 
ST. MARK 7. 5-11 199 
 
 pots, and brasen vessels. And the Pharisees and the 5 
 scribes ask him, Why walk not thy disciples according 
 to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with 
 defiled hands ? And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah 6 
 prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 
 
 This people honoureth me with their lips, 
 
 But their heart is far from me. 
 
 But in vain do they worship me, <j 
 
 Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. 
 Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the 8 
 tradition of men. And he said unto them, Full well do 9 
 ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep 
 your tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and 10 
 thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or 
 mother, let him die the death : but ye say, If a man n 
 shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith 
 thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that 
 
 6. hypocrites : the only occurrence of this word in Mark. 
 this people honoureth me with their lips. The quotation 
 beginning with these words is from Isa. xxix. 13. It differs some- 
 what from the form it has in the O. T. These hypocritical tradi- 
 tion-bound scribes of Christ's day were like the Jews of Isaiah's 
 time, and the rebuke of the latter fell upon the former. In each 
 case the human got the place of the divine, and the vain thoughts 
 of narrow precept-mongers were taught as the doctrines of God. 
 
 8. ye leave the commandment of God. Not only did they 
 inculcate their own rules as if they were the Divine Law, but they 
 forsook the latter for the former. These traditional rules, which 
 in most cases •went far beyond anything contained in the ordinances 
 of Moses, came to be regarded as of more importance than the 
 written Law itself. The scribes sought to justify this preference by 
 strained interpretations of such passages as Deut. iv. 14, xvii. 10. 
 
 10. Moses said: see Exod. xx. 12, xxi. 17. 
 
 die the death : that is, ' surely die, 1 as in the margin. The 
 quotation expresses the value which the Law put upon that duty 
 of children to parents which was so lightly evaded. 
 
 11. Corban: a Hebrew word meaning an offering. It is 
 explained for the sake of non-Jewish readers to mean something 
 1 given ' — something set apart for God or for the Temple. The 
 
200 ST. MARK 7. 12-19 
 
 12 is to say, Given to God-, ye no longer suffer him to do 
 
 13 aught for his father or his mother ; making void the 
 word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered : 
 
 14 and many such like things ye do. And he called to 
 him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear me 
 
 15 all of you, and understand: there is nothing from 
 without the man, that going into him can defile him : 
 but the things which proceed out of the man are those 
 
 17 that defile the man. And when he was entered into the 
 house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him 
 
 18 the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so 
 without understanding also ? Perceive ye not, that 
 whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot 
 
 19 defile him ; because it goeth not into his heart, but 
 
 Law did not give offerings the precedence over moral duties. For 
 it had the Decalogue in its heart. But the inventions of the scribes 
 had so perverted the moral intelligence that it had come to be a re- 
 cognized thing that to declare any possession Corban left one free 
 to refuse to use it for the help even of father or mother. 
 
 13. making" void. A strong word meaning to invalidate. It 
 occurs only in this paragraph, the corresponding section in 
 Matthew, and Gal. iii. 15, 17. 
 
 14. called to Ixim the multitude again. The people seem, 
 therefore, to have been dismissed or to have withdrawn for a time, 
 while he spoke the stern words about tradition to the company of 
 Pharisees and scribes. They are recalled in order to hear a declara- 
 tion of principle in which all required instruction, and which went 
 to the quick of these questions of the clean and the unclean. 
 
 15. nothing* from without the man . . . can defile him. 
 He takes them at once beyond all ceremonial conditions to moral 
 verities, and from the outward to the inward. He enunciates 
 a general principle which struck at the heart of these mechanical 
 prescriptions of the unwritten law, and indeed at the whole 
 Levitical system of distinctions between things clean and things 
 unclean which was but for a time. 
 
 Verse 16 of the A.V. is omitted by the R.V. as insufficiently 
 attested. 
 
 IV. entered into the house. He had stated the principle 
 broadly to the people without. He states it again and explains 
 it now to the disciples within at their request. 
 
ST. MARK 7. 20-22 201 
 
 into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This 
 he said) m'aking all meats clean. And he said, That 20 
 which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. 
 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts 21 
 proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, 22 
 wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, 
 
 19. making - all meats clean. The A. V. adopts the reading 
 ' purging all meats,' according to which the reference would be 
 to the separation of all impurities from the food which is effected 
 by its being passed into the draught. But the reading of the 
 R.V. is the better supported, and it also gives the better sense. 
 It makes Jesus the Speaker, and represents him as emitting a 
 great revolutionary declaration. The sentence becomes a note 
 explaining that Jesus, in speaking as he did, abolished the old 
 Levitical ideas of distinction, though the disciples did not discern 
 it, and pronounced all meats to be things in themselves equally 
 clean. 
 
 21. from within, out of the heart of men. Real unclean- 
 ness, moral defilement, has its source and its seat in the centre of 
 the moral feeling and intelligence— the heart. 
 
 evil thoughts. The mental acts, the ideas of evil, that 
 precede and prompt all sinful deeds. Or it may be that in the 
 ' evil thoughts ' we have the general term, and that in the terms 
 which follow we have the particulars — so many forms of evil in 
 which the * evil thoughts ' take effect. 
 
 fornications, &c. So many plural terms are used first, de- 
 noting different acts of sin. 
 
 22. covetings. The Vulgate and Wycliffe make it * avarices.' 
 The word is not to be limited to what comes under the idea of the 
 lust of gold. It is mentioned not only along with thefts and ex- 
 tortion (1 Cor. v. 10) ; but also with sins of the flesh (1 Cor. v. 11 ; 
 Eph. v. 3, 5; Col. iii. 5). It includes all forms of grasping self- 
 seeking and self-gratification. 
 
 deceit, &c. Next come so many singular terms, expressing 
 each a particular disposition. 
 
 lasciviousness. A strong term, meaning in classical Greek 
 insolence, in later Greek sensuality. It expresses the kind of 
 sensuality or wantonness that ' shocks public decency ' (Lightfoot). 
 
 an evil eye. That is, envy. 
 
 pride. A term common enough in classical Greek, but in 
 the N. T. found only here, though the corresponding adjective 
 occurs repeatedly (Luke i. 51 ; Rom. i. 30 ; 2 Tim. iii. 2 ; James 
 iv. 6 ; 1 Pet. v. 5). It means the pride that is arrogant, such as 
 is seen, e. g. in the attitude of the typical Pharisee to other men. 
 
202 ST. MARK 7. 23, 24 
 
 23 pride, foolishness : all these evil things proceed from 
 within, and defile the man. 
 
 24 And from thence he arose, and went away into the 
 borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a 
 
 foolishness. In the ethical sense, not mere lack of reason, 
 but moral senselessness, 'foolishness of moral practice' (Meyer). 
 
 Mark enumerates thirteen sins, or, as it may also be put, twelve 
 particular forms included in the ' evil thoughts.' Matthew's list 
 contains only seven, or six particular forms embraced in the ' evil 
 thoughts.' Nor are the forms entirely the same in the two lists. 
 Attempts to classify them have been made, but with very partial 
 success. 
 
 vii. 24-30. The case of the Syrophcenician woman and her 
 daughter. Cf. Matt. xv. 21-28. The spirit of hostility is rising, 
 and Jesus quits those districts of Galilee in which he had been 
 moving about for a time. But though he withdraws to new parts 
 at a considerable distance from the scenes of the events which 
 had spread his fame abroad, he is not allowed to remain unnoticed 
 or unapproached. Matthew's report makes more of what was 
 said, Mark's more of what was done on the occasion. The two 
 together give us a remarkably complete account of the incident. 
 
 24. the borders of Tyre and Sidon. Compare Elijah's journey 
 to 'Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon ' (1 Kings xvii. 9, 10). 
 Matthew says, 'into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.' The question 
 arises — Did Jesus actually cross the boundary and enter the 
 Gentile territory? Or did he keep on the Galilean side? Mark's 
 word ' the borders ' may mean either the parts touching the cities, 
 or the parts which belonged to the cities. The statement in 
 verse 31 that in leaving ' the borders of Tyre ■ Jesus ' came through 
 Sidon ' favours the former view, as also does Matthew's phrase on 
 the whole. Nor would there be anything inconsistent with the 
 plan of his ministry in his crossing into Gentile territory for a 
 space. For the narratives mean that it was with a view to retire- 
 ment, and not for the purpose of teaching or of doing his wonderful 
 works, that he came so far. Such is implied in the statement that 
 he ' would have no man know it ' (ver. 24). 
 
 Tyre. The ' Rock,' as the word meant, in ancient days was 
 ' the merchant of the peoples unto many isles ' (Ezek. xxvii. 3). 
 It was a fortified city in Joshua's time, and its strength is 
 repeatedly referred to in the O. T. (2 Sam. xxiv. 7 ; Isa. xxiii. 14 ; 
 Zech. ix. 3). The Tyrians were amongst the most famous sailors 
 of the ancient world. By its glass-work, its famous dyes, and 
 its maritime enterprise the city acquired great wealth. In our 
 Lord's time it was still a powerful and populous town. It was the 
 city of Hiram and of Jezebel. It was planted in the Phoenician 
 
ST. MARK 7. 25-27 203 
 
 house, and would have no man know it : and he could 
 not be hid. But straightway a woman, whose little 25 
 daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, 
 came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was 26 
 a Greek, a Syrophcenician by race. And she besought 
 him that he would cast forth the devil out of her 
 daughter. And he said unto her, Let the children first 27 
 be filled : for it is not meet to take the children's bread 
 
 plain between Zidon and Acre. Nothing remains of it but some 
 ruins on which a poor modern town is built. 
 
 Sidon : or 'Zidon,' ' Fishtown,' the rival of Tyre, situated 
 about twenty miles north of that city and about the same distance 
 south of Beyrout. Zidon, originally a fishing village, rose to the 
 proud position of a great commercial city before Tyre became 
 of importance, and in Isaiah the latter is spoken of as ' the 
 daughter of Zidon ' (xxiii. 12). But the power had passed from 
 Zidon to Tyre by Solomon's day at least, and the latter became 
 'the mart of nations' (Isa. xxiii. 3). Men of Tyre and Sidon 
 were among those who came to Jesus at the sea in his early 
 ministry (Mark iii. 8). The two cities appear in the story of 
 Herod in Acts (xii. 20). Paul touched at Sidon on his voyage to 
 Italy (Acts xxvii. 3). 
 
 25. straightway. The fame of Jesus had penetrated even 
 into Phoenicia, so much so that at once when it became known 
 that he had come to those distant parts the seclusion which he 
 sought was broken in upon by a suppliant. 
 
 26. a Greek, a Syrophcsnician. Matthew describes her as 
 ' a Canaanitish woman.' The designations express her connexions 
 by religion and by race. As a 'Greek' she was a Gentile; as 
 a Canaanite she was of the stock of the doomed race that was 
 dispossessed by Israel ; as a ' Syro-Phoenician ' she belonged to 
 the Phoenicians of the Roman province of Syria, as distinguished 
 from the Libo-Phoenicians or Liby-Phcenicians, the Phoenicians 
 of Libya on the Punic or Carthaginian coast. The conjunction of 
 the words also suggests that the woman, though a Phoenician, 
 spoke Greek. 
 
 besought him. Matthew tells us how she adjured him by 
 the title ' Son of David ' to have mercy on her. Intercourse with 
 the Jews of the vicinity had made her acquainted no doubt with 
 their Messianic expectations generally, and with this Messianic 
 name in particular. 
 
 27. let the children first he filled. So he enunciates the 
 principle on which his own mission was to proceed, and on 
 
204 ST. MARK 7. 28-30 
 
 28 and cast it to the dogs. But she answered and saith 
 unto him, Yea, Lord : even the dogs under the table 
 
 29 eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, 
 For this saying go thy way ; the devil is gone out of 
 
 30 thy daughter. And she went away unto her house, 
 and found the child laid upon the bed, and the devil 
 gone out. 
 
 which the Apostles also acted subsequently — ' to the Jew first.' 
 But while the Jew had the first claim it did not follow that he had 
 the only claim. It was ' also to the Greek.' 
 
 dogs. In Scripture the dog is seldom, if ever, mentioned, 
 but in terms of contempt. Evil qualities, cowardliness, treachery, 
 laziness, filthiness, and the like are always associated with him. 
 It is the street dog that is in view, the outcast animal that 
 infested the towns and villages of the East. (Cf. such passages 
 as Deut. xxiii. 18 ; Job xxx. 1 ; 2 Kings viii. 13 ; Phil. hi. 2 ; Rev. 
 xxii. 15). The ancient Jew spoke of the heathen as dogs. 
 Here, however, it is not the usual term for ' dogs ' that is used, 
 but a diminutive form which softens the harshness of the words 
 and points to the little house-dogs that might be about, and most 
 naturally under the table. This is the more likely, because our 
 Lord speaks in terms of a family meal. 
 
 28. Yea, Lord: even the dog's under the table eat of the 
 children's crumbs. It is as if she said — ' I grant, Lord, that the 
 meal is for the family, and that the children must be fed. But 
 are not the dogs also of the house, and is there not also 
 something for them in their turn ? ' She does not think of 
 contradicting Jesus, but accepts what he says as true, and 
 turns it into an argument in favour of her appeal. 
 
 29. Por this saying*. Her words expressed a confidence in 
 him so assured that it could not contemplate denial. In Matthew 
 the greatness of her faith is explicitly mentioned as the reason 
 for Christ's compliance. 
 
 found the child laid upon the bed, and the devil (demon) 
 gone out. Her faith had its reward. The evil spirit was gone, 
 though the child was not yet recovered from the exhaustion of 
 the possession. So in the case of the nobleman's son, the ' fever 
 left him ' and he ' began to amend ' (John iv. 52). 
 
 Matthew's account is fuller at some points, giving e. g. the several 
 stages in the trial of the woman's faith. It shews how Jesus met 
 her first by silence (xv. 23), then by refusal (xv. 24), and finally, 
 by seeming reproach (xv. 26). This miracle has some special notes 
 of interest. It was done on the ground of the faith, not of the 
 
ST. MARK 7. 31-33 205 
 
 And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and 31 
 came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the 
 midst of the borders of Decapolis. And they bring unto 3 2 
 him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his 
 speech ; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon 
 him. And he took him aside from the multitude 33 
 privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he 
 
 sufferer herself, but of her mother. It is also one of the three 
 instances of healing effected at a distance. The others are the 
 nobleman's son (John iv. 46-54) and the centurion's servant 
 (Luke vii. 1-10). 
 
 vii. 31-37. Healing of a deaf man with ait impediment in his 
 speech. This narrative is peculiar to Mark. Matthew attaches to his 
 account of the Syro-Phcenician woman only a general statement 
 regarding the departure of Jesus, and the multitudes healed by 
 him (xv. 29-31). 
 
 31. through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee. Leaving the 
 neighbourhood of Tyre he made his way back to the familiar 
 Lake. But he did this by a peculiar course, the reason for 
 which is not stated. He travelled first in a northerly direction 
 by the coast-line, and (as is indicated by the reading rightly adopted 
 by the R. V., though not by the A.V.) passed through the Gentile 
 city of Sidon. From these parts he took his journey across to the 
 Sea of Galilee — to the eastern side of the Jordan and again into the 
 region of Decapolis. This meant a considerable detour. But modern 
 travellers tell us that there was a road from Sidon to Damascus, 
 leading over the hills, across the Leontes, and by the Lebanon. 
 
 32. they bring" unto him one that was deaf. Jesus had 
 been in the neighbourhood of Decapolis before, and had been 
 asked to quit it (v. 1-20). Returning now he is received in 
 a different manner. The healing of the deaf was one of the 
 signs of his Messiahship to which he pointed John's disciples 
 (Matt. xi. 5). It was a note of the same in ancient prophecy 
 (Isa. xxxv. 5, xlii. 18). 
 
 an impediment in his speech. Not only deaf, but a deaf- 
 mute, or, if not absolutely dumb, incapable of speaking intelligibly. 
 
 33. took him aside. For the most part, the works of Jesus 
 were done in the sight of all. But there were cases, of which 
 this was one, in which they were done apart, and with more or 
 less privacy. There were no doubt special reasons for this in each 
 rase in the circumstances or the mental condition of the subject 
 or in the attitude of the people to the Healer and his mission. 
 
 put his fingers into his ears. Rather ' thrust ' them in. 
 
206 ST. MARK 7. 34-37 
 
 34 spat, and touched his tongue ; and looking up to heaven, 
 he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be 
 
 35 opened. And his ears were opened, and the bond of 
 
 36 his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he 
 charged them that they should tell no man : but the 
 more he charged them, so much the more a great deal 
 
 37 they published it. And they were beyond measure 
 astonished, saying, He hath done all things well : he 
 maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. 
 
 It was a sign of what he was to do, suitable to the man's state 
 of mind and fixing his attention. 
 
 spat : spittle was thought to have medicinal virtue, and was 
 often accompanied by magical formulas. Here it is simply the 
 medium of the healing power (as was the case with the oil, 
 vi. 13), or a second visible sign to help the man's faith. 
 
 34. looking 1 up : as in the case of the Five Thousand (vi. 41). 
 sighed: or 'groaned.' This is the only occurrence of the 
 
 word in the Gospels. It is found also in the Epistles ; e. g. in 
 Rom. viii. 23; 2 Cor. v. 2, 4, where it is rendered 'groan.' It 
 expresses Christ's deep, pained sympathy. 
 
 Ephphatha: another of the Lord's words which Mark got 
 from Peter and treasured up in the vernacular. 
 
 35. spake plain : what he said is not recorded. The significant 
 fact was that he could speak, not with stuttering sounds, but 
 articulately and at once. 
 
 36. the more a great deal they published it : the injunction 
 to silence had been earnestly and repeatedly laid upon them. 
 In their excitement they disregarded it, and the more the charge 
 was urged the more did it stimulate their zeal to proclaim the 
 work. ' The conduct of the multitude is a good example of the 
 way in which men treat Jesus, yielding him all homage, except 
 obedience 1 (Gould). 
 
 37. beyond measure : a very strong word, of which this 
 is the one occurrence in the N. T. The impression produced in 
 all cases by our Lord's mighty works was in this case, and among 
 these half-pagan people, far greater than ever. 
 
 He hath done all things well : ' he has been gracious 
 everywhere and successful in everything' (Clarke). 
 
 This miracle is remarkable not only for the comparative privacy 
 in which it was performed and the manifestation of the Healer's 
 feelings which accompanied it, but for the use of tangible signs 
 and the gradual way in which it was done, by so many distinct 
 
ST. MAi'K 8. 1,2 207 
 
 In those days, when there was again a great multitude, 8 
 and they had nothing to eat, he called unto him his 
 disciples, and saith unto them, I have compassion on a 
 
 acts— taking the man aside, putting the fingers into his ears, 
 applying spittle, touching the tongue, and then the upturned look, 
 the groaning, and finally the short word of command. 
 
 viii. 1-10. The feeding of the Four Thojtsand : cf. Matt. xv. 32-39. 
 In contrast with the fourfold narrative in the former miracle of 
 feeding, we have in the present case only the twofold record. 
 The question arises whether this narrative is only another form 
 of that of the Five Thousand, or the report of a distinct occurrence. 
 It is held by some that the narratives in Matthew and Mark are 
 simply duplicate accounts, with some natural differences in the 
 details, of one and the same work. Others think that there were 
 two distinct incidents of miraculous feeding, much the same in 
 character, but that in the primitive tradition the reports of these 
 became to some extent assimilated. The chief reasons urged in 
 support of the duplicate theory are the general resemblances of 
 the two accounts, the difficulty felt by the disciples (viii. 4), and 
 the fact that they betray no recollection of a previous work 
 of the same kind. But there are weightier considerations on 
 the other side. There are, e.g., several points of difference 
 between the two narratives. The numbers fed in the one case 
 are 5,000, in the other 4,000. In the one case we have five 
 loaves and two fishes, in the other seven loaves and a few fishes. 
 In the one case twelve baskets were filled with the fragments, in 
 the other seven. The particular kind of basket mentioned 
 is also different in the two narratives. In the case of the Five 
 Thousand it is the small wicker basket, in that of the Four Thou- 
 sand it is the large rope-basket. Further, in the one the people 
 concerned are the men of the coast-villages of the north, in the 
 other they are the men of Decapolis and the eastern side. In the 
 case of the Five Thousand the people were demonstrative and 
 would have made Jesus a king (John vi. 15), but in that of the 
 Four Thousand nothing is said of any such excitement. It may 
 also be said that, as the works of Jesus were done for the relief 
 of human ills and needs, and as these ills and needs met him in 
 the same forms on different occasions, there could be no reason 
 in the nature of things why the same miracle might not be 
 wrought on more than one occasion. Here, too, Jesus was 
 among a different people, and a people in a new mental attitude 
 to him. The Evangelist says simply and distinctly that there was 
 ' again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat.' Why 
 should we not accept his statement ? 
 
208 ST. MARK 8. 3-9 
 
 the multitude, because they continue with me now three 
 
 3 days, and have nothing to eat : and if I send them away 
 fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; and 
 
 4 some of them are come from far. And his disciples 
 answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these 
 
 5 men with bread here in a desert place? And he asked 
 them, How many loaves have ye ? And they said, Seven. 
 
 6 And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the 
 ground : and he took the seven loaves, and having given 
 thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before 
 
 7 them ; and they set them before the multitude. And 
 they had a few small fishes : and having blessed them, 
 
 8 he commanded to set these also before them. And they 
 did eat, and were filled: and they took up, of broken 
 
 9 pieces that remained over, seven baskets. And they 
 were about four thousand: and he sent them away. 
 
 2. three days. By which time they had consumed all the food 
 they had brought. Their eagerness to be with Jesus was bringing 
 them into straits, and his compassion was roused, all the more 
 because some had far to go before they could reach their homes. 
 
 4. Whence shall one he ahle to fill these men with bread? The 
 deficiencies of the disciples are never concealed. Their question 
 betrayed their forgetfulness and the little they had yet learned. 
 It is to be noticed also that it is not quite the same as their 
 question on the previous occasion. Then their difficulty was 
 about the large sum of money that would be needed to purchase 
 provisions. Here it is the difficulty of finding anywhere in the 
 sparsely-peopled district in which they were now a sufficient 
 supply for such a multitude of mouths. 
 
 6. he commandeth the multitude to sit down. On this 
 occasion he gives his instructions not to the disciples, but directly 
 to the people themselves. Neither is there any reference now to 
 the green grass. They are seated ' on the ground.' 
 
 8. seven baskets. The basket used on this occasion was a sort 
 of hamper, a plaited basket of reeds or rope. It might be of 
 considerable size, large enough indeed to hold a man. It was in 
 a basket of this kind that Paul was lowered ' down through the 
 wall ' at Damascus (Acts ix. 25). 
 
 9. four thousand. As in the previous case Matthew adds 
 1 beside women and children.' 
 
ST. MARK 8. 10-12 209 
 
 And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, 10 
 and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. 
 
 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question 11 
 with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting 
 him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why 12 
 
 10. Dalmanutha. This is the only passage in which this word 
 occurs. Matthew says that Jesus 'came into the borders of 
 Magadan ' (xv. 39^ ; where this reading of the R. V. is to be 
 preferred to the Magdala of the A. V. But we know about as 
 little of this Magadan as of Dalmanutha. The only place with 
 a name at all like Dalmanutha is ed-Delhemlyeh. But that is some 
 five miles to the south of the Lake, on the eastern bank of the 
 Jordan and near its junction with the Yarmuk. Some identify 
 Magadan with Magdala. and so with el-Megdel at the south end of 
 the Plain of Gennesaret. But that, too, is uncertain. 
 
 viii. 11-13. Further questions of the Pltarisees : cf. Matt. xvi. 1-4. 
 
 11. the Pharisees. Matthew says also the Sadducees, who have 
 not appeared as yet as parties in any meeting with Jesus. In 
 r either of the Gospels are we told from whence, whether from 
 their homes in the neighbourhood of Dalmanutha or from some 
 more distant place, these Pharisees came forth. But Jesus had 
 been away for a time out of their parts : and now that he is 
 back they resume their former policy with him. 
 
 a sign from heaven. They 'began' this policy of entangling 
 questions again by a demand for a sign. Not satisfied with 
 miracles as ' signs, 1 they ask him for a ' sign ' of another kind — one 
 from heaven, some audible or visible manifestation unmistakably 
 from above, something different from those works which were 
 wrought by Jesus on earth. They are not more explicit as to the 
 kind of sign ; but they may have had in mind the standing still 
 of sun and moon in Joshua's case, the thunder and hail in that 
 of Samuel, the rain in Elijah's case (1 Kings xviii. 38 ; a Kings i. 
 10, &c), or the manna fcf. John vi. 30, &c), or perhaps the 
 peculiar 'sign,' the Bath-Kol, the ; daughter of the voice' or the 
 ; daughter-voice,' of which much is made in the Rabbinical books — 
 a heavenly voice which was supposed to have come after the 
 cessation of O.T. prophecy, and which conveyed the testimony 
 of heaven on special occasions. This incident is given by Luke in 
 a different connexion (xi. 16, 29}. Matthew introduces it in both 
 connexions (xii. 38-41, xvi. 1-4). 
 
 tempting'. That is, putting him to the test. 
 
 12. sighed deeply, or, ' groaned deeply.' An intensive form 
 of the verb, occurring only here. What moved him thus painfull}- 
 
2io ST. MARK 8. 13-15 
 
 doth this generation seek a sign ? verily I say unto you, 
 
 13 There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And 
 he left them, and again entering into the boat departed to 
 the other side. 
 
 14 And they forgot to take bread ; and they had not in the 
 
 15 boat with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, 
 saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 
 
 was the hardened attitude of these Pharisees, which betokened the 
 final separation between them and him, and the results thereof. 
 
 13. lie left them. He refused them the kind of sign they 
 sought, and turned away from them, recognizing that his ministry 
 could have no success with such as they. 
 
 to the other side. Our ignorance of the position of Dal- 
 manutha leaves it uncertain whether this was to the eastern side 
 or to the western. Only we see that they came by-and-by to 
 Bethsaida (viii. 22). 
 
 viii. 14-21. Warning against the leaven of the Pharisees and the 
 leaven of Herod. Cf. Matt. xvi. 5-12. 
 
 14. they forgot to take bread. It was the duty of the disciples', 
 and more particularly of Judas the purse-bearer, to see to the 
 provision needed for a journey. But they had omitted to do so. 
 Perhaps their forgetfulness was due to the haste of their departure . 
 Matthew's account might suggest that it was when they arrived 
 that they overlooked this plain duty. It is only Mark who notices 
 that all they had by them was a single loaf. 
 
 15. charged them. The tense in the original indicates either 
 that he proceeded to do this while they were crossing, or that he 
 did it once and again. 
 
 the leaven. The use of leaven during Passover and in con- 
 nexion with certain offerings (Lev. ii. 11) was strictly forbidden 
 by the law. As a thing that was to be purged out, it readily 
 became a figure of what was evil or corrupt. Only once in the 
 N. T. is it used in the neutral sense, viz. in the Parable of the 
 Leaven. Otherwise it is a figure of evil, and more particularly of 
 secret, penetrating, insidious evil (1 Cor. v. 6, 7, 8 ; Gal. v. 9). 
 The explanation given by Matthew (xvi. 12) suggests that what 
 Jesus had specially in view on this occasion was the insidious 
 influence of corrupt teaching. 
 
 of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. The repetition 
 of the word i leaven' indicates that two distinct kinds of evil 
 influence are referred to. In Matthew it is the leaven of 'the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees.' But the leaven of Herod would be 
 akin to that of the Sadducees. The leaven of the Pharisees would 
 
ST. MARK 8. 16-20 211 
 
 and the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned one with 16 
 another, saying, We have no bread. And Jesus perceiving 17 
 it saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no 
 bread ? do ye not yet perceive, neither understand ? have 
 ye your heart hardened ? Having eyes, see ye not ? and 18 
 having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? 
 When I brake the five loaves among the five thousand, 19 
 how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye up? 
 They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven 20 
 among the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken 
 
 be the influence of their religious arrogance, their formalism, and 
 the like, but here particularly that of their narrow, rigorous, 
 unspiritual teaching. The leaven of Herod would be the pernicious 
 influence of the worldliness and licence that go with unbelief. 
 
 16. reasoned. They kept talking with each other about the 
 Lord's warning, but took him to speak only of their neglect to 
 have bread with them. 
 
 \*7. do ye not yet perceive, neither understand? There is 
 a tone of reproach or censure in the question. Even after all 
 that they had witnessed they had not yet learned to reflect and 
 take in the real meaning of things. In Matthew (xvi. 8) it is the 
 defect of their faith that is made prominent. What they had 
 already seen him do in supplying need should have taught them 
 to trust him more, and not to let their thoughts run as they had 
 been doing on this lack of provision. 
 
 18. Having 1 eyes, see ye not? The best arrangement of the 
 clauses in verses 18, 19 probably is this — ' Having eyes, see ye not, 
 and having ears hear ye not ? And do you not remember, when 
 I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets 
 full of fragments you took up ? ' 
 
 19. "baskets full. The narrative, in its references to the two 
 miracles, carefully preserves the distinctions between the five 
 thousand and the four thousand, and between the five fishes and 
 the seven, and (what is more remarkable) between the kinds of 
 basket used on the two several occasions, as brought out in the 
 separate accounts already given. The R. V. calls attention to this 
 last fact by giving the rendering 'baskets full ' in verse 19 (with 
 reference to the wicker basket in the case of the five thousand), 
 and the rendering ' basketfuls ' in verse 20 with reference to 
 the larger basket or hamper in the case of the four thousand. 
 Wycliffe's translation is curious. He gives ' coffens ful of broken 
 mete ' in the one case, and ' lepis of broken mete ' in the other. 
 
 P 2 
 
212 ST. MARK 8. 21,22 
 
 21 pieces took ye up? And they say unto him, Seven. And 
 he said unto them, Do ye not yet understand ? 
 
 32 And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring 
 to him a blind man, and beseech him to touch him. 
 
 21. do ye not yet understand ? Even after their experience of 
 these two miracles they had remained obtuse, and had learned 
 neither to trust him better nor to take in the real meaning of his 
 words. Matthew's account is more detailed and explanatory at 
 this point. It gives the question of Jesus in a fuller form, and it 
 states that at last the disciples did come to see that in speaking to 
 them of the leaven he had the corrupt teaching of the Jewish sects 
 in view, not the mere matter of bread (xvi. n, 12). 
 
 viii. 22-26. Restoration of sight to a blind man at Betlisaida. 
 The second of the two miracles which are recorded only by Mark. 
 In this case, as in the former (^the healing of the deaf-mute in 
 Decapolis), the miracle is done apart from the multitude, in 
 a gradual way, and with the help of tangible means. 
 
 22. unto Bethsaida. They had come to 'the other side' from 
 Dalmanutha. But as the position of Dalmanutha is unknown, the 
 question is left so far open as to whether this Bethsaida is on 
 the eastern side of the lake or on the western. As Jesus pro- 
 ceeded from this Bethsaida to ' the villages of Caesarea Philippi,' 
 it is probably Bethsaida Julias, on the north-eastern shore, that 
 is meant. It is objected that Bethsaida Julias was a city, whereas 
 this Bethsaida is called a 'village.' But the elevation of the 
 north-eastern town to the rank of a city was of recent date, and 
 the old familiar title may have survived among the people. 
 
 a blind man. So far as Mark's record goes, this is the first 
 case of the kind brought to Jesus. Mark also reports the case 
 of Bartimaeus (x. 46, &c.) Each of the Gospels selects one or 
 more out of the number of such miracles for detailed narration. 
 Matthew, e. g. records the instances of the two blind men in the 
 house (ix. 27-31), and the two blind men near Jericho (xx. 30-34); 
 Luke that of the blind beggar at Jericho (xviii. 35-43) ; John that 
 of the man born blind (ix. 1-41). But that Jesus did many more 
 works of healing in the case of the infirmity of blindness than are 
 reported at length in the Gospels appears from the briefer accounts 
 of the possessed man who was both blind and dumb (Matt. xii. 22), 
 and the blind and lame whom he healed in the temple (Matt. xxi. 
 14), and from the reference made by Jesus to the blind receiving 
 their sight in his answer to John's disciples (Matt. xi. 5 ; 
 Luke vii. 21). 
 
 Blindness and ophthalmia have always been commoner troubles in 
 the East than in the West. The conditions of climate and life account 
 
ST. MARK 8. 23-25 213 
 
 And he took hold of the blind man by the hand, and 23 
 brought him out of the village ; and when he had spit 
 on his eyes, and laid his hands upon him, he asked 
 him, Seest thou aught? And he looked up, and said, 24 
 I see men ; for I behold them as trees, walking. Then 25 
 
 for this. The Mosaic law had special provisions for the protection 
 of the blind (Lev. xix. 14 ; Deut. xxvii. 18). The word 'blind' or 
 ' blindness ' occurs no less than thirty-six times in the literal sense 
 in the N. T., not to speak of its figurative use. Sightless, blear- 
 eyed, fly-infected, miserable men and women often confront one 
 in Syrian towns and villages, and make one of the most distressing 
 spectacles in Eastern life. 
 
 23. took hold. The deaf-mute was taken aside ; the blind man 
 is led by the hand. 
 
 out of the village. At this period of his ministry Jesus 
 seems to have taken special precautions against a publicity which 
 might prejudice his work or drive it to a premature issue. But in 
 taking this man so carefully and deliberately apart from the noisy, 
 excitable crowd he had regard also, as the injunction in ver. 26 
 suggests, to the man's own mental condition. 
 
 spit on his eyes. As in the case of the deaf-mute. These 
 are the only two occasions on which Jesus applies the moisture 
 of his mouth in this way. ' He links on his power' (says Arch- 
 bishop Trench) i to means already in use among men; working 
 through these means something higher than they could themselves 
 have brought about, and clothing the supernatural in the forms of 
 the natural. Thus he did, for example, when he bade his disciples 
 to anoint the sick with oil — one of the most esteemed helps for 
 healing in the East.' 
 
 laid his hands upon him. The appeal had been that he 
 might touch him. To aid and stimulate the man's faith, which 
 may well have been dull and inert, he responds to the appeal and 
 does even more. 
 
 24. looked up. The first and most natural thing to do when 
 such a question is put to him. Instinctively he would raise 
 his eyes. 
 
 I see men ; for I behold them as trees, walking 1 . This 
 rendering of the R. V. is better than that of the A. V., ' I see 
 men as trees walking. 1 which overlooks the 'for.' Better still 
 is the rendering, ' I see the men, for like trees I perceive persons 
 walking about ' (Meyer\ or ' I see men, for I perceive objects like 
 trees walking ' ( Swete). His answer to the question was prompt. 
 It was that now he had his sight. He gave his reason for saying 
 this, namely, the fact that he could discern large objects in motion. 
 
214 ST. MARK 8. 26 
 
 again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked 
 stedfastly, and was restored, and saw all things clearly. 
 26 And he sent him away to his hom'e, saying, Do not 
 even enter into the village. 
 
 He judged they must be men, though they looked like trees, 
 because they were walking about. But his vision was yet im- 
 perfect. He did not see things distinctly and in their real pro- 
 portions. ' Certain moving forms he saw about him, but without 
 the power of discerning their shape or magnitude — trees he 
 should have accounted them from their height, and men from 
 their motion ' (Trench). Even in Mark's narrative there is nothing 
 more life-like, no more truthful, realistic reproduction of a scene 
 than this. The experience of the healed man, the first rawness 
 and uncertainty of his vision, the appearance of things in un- 
 natural dimensions and indistinct outline, are all true to nature 
 and to medical testimony. It is not said whether the man was 
 blind from birth or had lost his sight. The description corre- 
 sponds better perhaps with the case of one born blind. On the 
 other hand, what the man says about trees and men and the use of 
 the word ' restored ' might suggest that once he had seen, and 
 that he still had some vague recollections of the look of things. 
 
 25. again he laid his hands upon his eyes. It required two 
 applications of the hands before the cure was complete. So 
 gradual was the work of restoration. It needed time, and touch, 
 and concentrated attention on the part of the subject to interpret 
 the new sensations. Archbishop Trench refers to Cheselden's 
 account of the cure of a man who had been blind from birth — 
 'When he first saw,' the report proceeds, ' he knew not the shape 
 of anything, nor any one thing from another, however different 
 in shape or magnitude ; but being told what things were, whose 
 forms he before knew from feeling, he would carefully observe, 
 that he might know them again.' 
 
 he looked stedfastly. The term here is the one which is 
 rendered ' see clearly ' in our Lord's charge regarding the beam 
 and the mote (Matt. vii. 5 ; Luke vi. 42). It describes the act 
 of fixing one's eyes on an object with the view of discerning dis- 
 tinctly what it is. 
 
 saw all thing's clearly. This word ' clearly,' of which this 
 is the only occurrence in the N. T., conveys the idea of distance. 
 The cure was now complete. It was so perfect that the man 
 could see things near and far distinctly. 
 
 26. Do not even enter into the village. The man did not 
 belong to the village. He had been brought to it and Jesus 
 himself had led him out of it. The Healer now will have him go 
 at once to his home, without mixing with the people of the village 
 
ST. MARK 8. 27 215 
 
 And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, into the 27 
 villages of Caesarea Philippi : and in the way he asked 
 
 or so much as putting foot within the place. So should he have the 
 opportunity for reflection ; while the risk of public excitement 
 and agitation, which might be hurtful to the real objects of Christ's 
 ministry, would also be avoided. 
 
 viii. 27-30. Visit to the neighbourhood of Ccesarea Philippi. Cf. 
 Matt. xvi. 13-20 ; Luke ix. 18-21. Here again we have the 
 advantage of the triple narrative. And the journey was a momen- 
 tous one. It took Jesus to a remote and retired part of the country, 
 which he had not yet visited in the course of his ministry, and in 
 which he could have the retirement which he had sought in vain 
 elsewhere. It was undertaken when opposition was sharpening 
 and the crisis of his life was drawing on. It gave him oppor- 
 tunity also to bring matters to a point with his disciples with 
 regard both to his Person and to his Passion. His way took him 
 northwards along the course of the Jordan, as far almost as its 
 sources, beyond the waters of Merom and twenty-five miles or 
 thereby above the Sea of Galilee. It brought him into one of the 
 most remarkable parts of the Holy Land — a region of deep 
 solitudes, where Nature also is seen in her grandest and fairest 
 forms. 
 
 27. Caesarea Philippi. So called to distinguish it from another 
 Caesarea. the Ccesarea Palestine, or the ' Caesarea on the Sea,' the 
 city north of Jaffa in which St. Paul was imprisoned. It got the 
 name Caesarea in honour of the Emperor Augustus Caesar, and 
 the Philippi was added in honour of Philip the tetrarch of Tracho- 
 nitis, who had rebuilt it and had made it splendid with altars, and 
 statues, and votive images. In remote antiquity the site had 
 been occupied, it is thought, by a city which is identified by some 
 with the Baa'-Gad of Joshua (xi. 17, xii. 7, xiii. 4), by others with 
 the Baal-Hermon of Judges (hi. 3) and 1 Chronicles (v. 23). 
 Later it was occupied by a town known as Paneas (the modern 
 Banias) from the Paneion, a sanctuary of Pan in a deep cavern 
 in the neighbourhood (Josephus, Antiq. xv. 10. 3). Planted at the 
 foot of the Lebanon on a terrace 1.150 feet above sea-level, 
 surrounded by groves of oaks and poplars, with fertile plains 
 stretching westwards, and the snowy Hermon to the north-east, 
 it has a grand, romantic beauty beyond any other town in the 
 land. ' Almost a Syrian Tivoli ' is Dean Stanley's description of it. 
 in the way he asked his disciples. He draws from them 
 their ideas of himself. It is the first time that he questions the 
 Twelve directly about himself. The occasion is one of such 
 solemn moment that he prepared himself for it by prayer, as we 
 gather from Luke (ix. 18). So had he done also before he went 
 
216 ST. MARK 8. 28-30 
 
 his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that 
 
 28 I am ? And they told him, saying, John the Baptist : and 
 
 29 others, Elijah ; but others, One of the prophets. And 
 he asked them, But who say ye that I am? Peter 
 answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 
 
 30 And he charged them that they should tell no man 
 
 on his first circuit among the synagogues of Galilee (Mark i. 35) , 
 and before he chose the Twelve (Luke vi. 12). 
 
 Who do men say that I am ? His first question was about 
 the opinions of others. The reply of the disciples shewed how 
 various these were, and how different were the impressions pro- 
 duced by his works. 
 
 28. And they told him. The Baptist risen from the dead, 
 the Elijah who was to return, one of the line of the prophets — 
 these were some of the estimates formed of him. Matthew adds 
 Jeremiah, the prophet who had come to be regarded as in some 
 respects the greatest of all. But it is not said that any of the 
 people took him to be the Messiah. Compare the similar ex- 
 planations recorded in vi. 14, 15. 
 
 29. But who say ye that I am ? Now he will have their own 
 view — ' But ye — who say ye that I am,' as the order of the words 
 puts it. 
 
 Peter answereth. All three Synoptists make Peter the 
 spokesman. 
 
 Thou art the Christ. In Matt, it is 'Thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God ' (xvi. 16), and in Luke it is \ The Christ 
 of God.' But the confession is the same, though the reports differ 
 slightly as to the precise terms. It is to be observed also that 
 according both to Matthew and to John there had been earlier 
 confessions by the disciples of Jesus as 'the Son of God' (Matt. xiv. 
 33), and ' the Holy One of God ' (John vi. 69) ; and that the Fourth 
 Gospel indeed speaks of Simon as recognizing Jesus to be the 
 Messiah when he first followed him (John i. 41). The confession 
 is now made by Peter in name of the disciples, in response to the 
 Master's own question and in the most explicit terms. It was their 
 solemn, formal, convinced acceptance of him as the Messiah ; and 
 the scene of this momentous declaration was the neighbourhood 
 of a heathen city dedicated of old to Pan, and in Christ's time to 
 the deified Augustus. Mark omits the benediction pronounced 
 on Peter and the promise made him, which Matthew records 
 (xvi. 17-19) — proof sufficient that the Second Gospel was not 
 "written with a Petrine tendency or in the interests of Peter and 
 a part}' following him. 
 
 30. charg-ed them. A strong word, usually conveying the idea 
 
ST. MARK 8. si 217 
 
 of him. And he began to teach them, that the Son 31 
 of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by 
 the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and 
 
 of rebuke- The silence was enjoined because the times were not 
 yet ripe for a public and general declaration of his Messiahship. 
 It was possible to do that prematurely, and at the cost of disaster. 
 
 viii. 31-33. The Announcement of the Passion and the Rebuke 
 of Peter; cf. Matt. xvi. 21-23 ; Luke ix. 22. The confession has 
 been made. The time will come, though it is not yet, for the 
 proclamation of the claims thus recognized. What is involved in 
 that confession is from this time forth disclosed to the disciples as 
 they were able to receive it. 
 
 31. began to teach them : this marks the occasion as one that 
 made an important turning-point in Christ's work. He was to 
 give now a new direction to his training and instructing of the 
 Twelve. 
 
 must : the word expresses the moral necessity, the Divine 
 plan, in his career. It is used also on other decisive occasions in 
 his life, as Luke specialty notices, e. g. when the consciousness of 
 his peculiar relation to God first expresses itself (Luke ii. 49), at 
 the beginning of his ministry (Luke iv. 43), after his resurrection 
 (Luke xxiv. 26) ; cf. also John ix. 4. 
 
 suffer many thing's: so in Matt. xvi. 21; Mark ix. 12; 
 Luke ix. 22, xvii. 25. 
 
 rejected : perhaps with reference to Ps. cxviii. 22. The 
 word means properly an official rejection — a rejection after trial. 
 
 elders : here in the official sense of members of the Sanhedrin, 
 the supreme ecclesiastical court or council in Jerusalem — those 
 members of that body who were neither chief priests nor scribes. 
 They might be either laymen or priests. 
 
 chief priests : the most distinguished representatives of 
 the Jewish priesthood, and the leading members of the supreme 
 court. They belonged to the sacerdotal aristocracy, and were 
 mostly, though not exclusively, of the party of the Sadducees. 
 
 scribes : the professional lawyers, mostly, though not exclu- 
 sively, Pharisees. See on chap. i. 22 above. These were the 
 three distinct classes that made up the membership of the 
 Sanhedrin. In most cases where they are named together in 
 the N.T. the chief priests are mentioned first. There are a few 
 cases in which this order is not kept (Matt. xvi. 21 ; Luke ix. 22. 
 xx. 19, in addition to the instance here in Mark), and only two 
 in which the chief priests are not named at all (Matt. xxvi. 57 ; 
 Acts vi. 12). The enumeration is made here in a form that 
 particularizes each of the three parties in the Sanhedrin as in- 
 volved in the acts referred to. 
 
218 ST. MARK 8. 32-34 
 
 32 be killed, and after three days rise again. And he 
 spake the saying openly. And Peter took him, and 
 
 33 began to rebuke him. But he turning about, and seeing 
 his disciples, rebuked Peter, and saith, Get thee behind 
 me, Satan ; for thou mindest not the things of God, 
 
 34 but the things of men. And he called unto him the 
 
 after three days : so again in ix. 31, x. 34. Matthew saj^s 
 'the third day' (xvi. 21). But that the two expressions mean the 
 same thing is shewn by Matt, xxvii. 64. Cf. Hosea vi. 2. 
 
 32. openly : that is in plain terms, not in parable or indirectly, 
 and in presence of all. Cf. John xi. 14. This statement is given 
 only by Mark. Jesus had not been wholly silent on these things 
 before, but had spoken with reserve and by figure or suggestion, 
 as is seen e. g. from John ii. 19, iii. 12-16, vi. 47-56, and in the 
 mention of the bridegroom (Matt. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 20). 
 
 took him : put his hand on him and took hold of him so as 
 to take him aside. The idea of suffering, of what betokened failure, 
 in the case of him whom he had just confessed to be the Christ was 
 still strange to Peter ; and that Jesus should speak of it with such 
 frankness and publicity was more than he could bear. He will take 
 him apart, out of the hearing of others, and remonstrate with him. 
 
 rebuke him : the words of the remonstrance are given by 
 Matthew (xvi. 22). 
 
 33. turning" about : cf. v. 30 ; John xxi. 20 ; Acts ix. 40 ; 
 Rev. i. 12. Another of Mark's vivid strokes. At Peter's touch 
 and speech Jesus turns sharply round as if to address him. 
 In doing so his eye rests on the disciples watching what was 
 passing. He directs his rebuke to Peter, but to him as the 
 spokesman for all. Matthew and Mark both mention that it was 
 Peter who was reproved. Mark who omits the honour done to 
 Peter by Jesus on the occasion of his confession, does not fail 
 to tell of the sharp reproof that followed so soon. 
 
 Get thee behind me, Satan : the very words used by Jesus 
 in the temptation (Matt. iv. 10 ; Luke iv. 8). In Peter's re- 
 monstrance Jesus saw a repetition of the temptation to follow 
 a worldly course by which Satan had tried him in the wilderness. 
 
 mindest. Better than the A. V. ' savourest,' an old English 
 word, derived from the Latin through the French, meaning to 
 discern and relish. Peter's hasty and officious act betokened a lack 
 of spiritual understanding and liking — a mind far away yet from 
 the mind of God. 
 
 viii. 34 — ix. 1 . Declaration of self-denial even unto death as the 
 condition of discipleship, and the secret of the gain of life. Cf. Matt, 
 xvi. 24-28 ; Luke ix. 23-27. 
 
ST. MARK 8. 35 219 
 
 multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If 
 any man would come after me, let him deny himself, 
 and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoso- 35 
 ever would save his life shall lose it ; and whosoever 
 
 34. the multitude : even in these remote, heathen parts, Jesus 
 had crowds of curious spectators and listeners. He turns now 
 from the disciples and from the mystery of his own Passion to 
 the mass of the unattached and to another subject. He even 
 calls them to him and addresses to them words of larger meaning 
 suited to all. 
 
 take up his cross : Luke adds • daily.' Probably Jesus had 
 spoken of the cross before this to his disciples (Matt. x. 38), but 
 not, as far as appears, to those outside. Neither then nor now 
 did he speak of the cross as the way of death for himself; nor 
 has he yet spoken of suffering at the hands of any but Jews. 
 Crucifixion was the Roman mode of capital punishment. The 
 word about taking up the cross must have carried with it repellent, 
 terrifying ideas. It expressed the call to a denial of self that 
 meant the utmost conceivable pain. It has been asserted by some 
 that only now did our Lord clearly foresee his own Passion. But 
 apart from the proper reference of his words on this occasion, we 
 have testimonies in the Gospels to the fact that he had spoken of it, 
 at least in terms foreshadowing it, before this, as e. g. in the hidden 
 saying ?bout the temple of his body John ii. 20, 21) ; the words 
 to Nathanael about the destiny of the Son of man to be ' lifted up ' 
 (John iii. 14) ; the declaration about the giving of his flesh and 
 blood (John vi. 51-56^; and the statement about the bridegroom 
 being 'taken away' which is given in all the three Synoptists 
 (Matt. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 20 ; Luke v. 35). 
 
 35. life: or 'soul,' as in the margin of the R. V. The word 
 rendered 'soul' {psyche) is different from that rendered 'spirit' 
 (pneuma). Soul is the term used in Scripture to designate the 
 self, the conscious personal life. It means life embodied, as the 
 other means life animating. • Spirit is life as coming from God ; 
 soul is life as constituted in man. Consequent^* , when the 
 individual life is to be made emphatic, " soul" is used' (Laidlaw, 
 The Bible Doctrine of Man, p. 69). Thus, too, in connexions like 
 the present, the latter term may express the self in two different 
 aspects, a lower and a higher, or the life as mere life, and as the 
 good of life — life worthy of the name. It is to be observed also that 
 this is not the only time that this far-reaching declaration about 
 saving and losing one's life was made by our Lord, according to 
 the Gospel records. See Matt. x. 39 ; Luke xvii. 33 ; John xii. 25. 
 It is, indeed, one that bore to be repeated, and that might be called 
 forth by more than one occasion. 
 
220 ST. MARK 8. 36-38 
 
 shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall 
 
 36 save it. For what doth it profit a man, to gain the 
 
 37 whole world, and forfeit his life? For what should 
 
 38 a man give in exchange for his life ? For whosoever 
 shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this 
 adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also 
 shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the 
 
 for my sake : words spoken simply and calmly, but revealing 
 his consciousness of a supremacy beyond the highest human 
 measure, making devotion to himself the first of duties and the 
 life which is a gain worth any cost. 
 
 and the gospel's. It is only Mark who uses the word 
 ' gospel ' thus without any addition or definition. 
 
 36. gain the whole world. The contrast passes now from the 
 life saved and the life lost to the world gained and the life forfeited. 
 The term 'world' here has not the deep, mystical sense it has 
 in the writings of John. It is the ' world ' in the common sense 
 of the word, the material, visible world or system of things with 
 all it has to offer. In the experiences of the wilderness, Jesus 
 himself had been tempted to gain the world by forsaking his 
 proper mission and forgetting his relation to God. ' Forfeit ' is 
 the proper rendering here in the clause ' forfeit his life.' For the 
 word expresses not mere loss, but loss coming by penalty inflicted. 
 
 37. For what should a man give in exchange : or, ' as an 
 exchange.' It is an argument for the profitlessness of the gain 
 of the whole world from the fact that it is at the cost of a loss 
 that cannot be repaired. Once the life is gone, nothing can buy 
 it back. 
 
 38. For whosoever shall be ashamed. The statement 
 becomes yet more definite, and points to yet larger claims on 
 the part of the speaker. It brings the question of loyalty to 
 Christ to the final test of his own judicial prerogative. When 
 that test is applied the just equalities of things will be seen. 
 Then shame shall be met by shame, and he who disowns shall 
 himself be disowned. 
 
 when he cometh : the N. T. speaks of a 4 coming ' or 
 f presence ' of Christ, which it describes as an objective event of 
 the future, a visible return of Christ which is connected with the 
 raising of the dead, the last judgement, and the establishment of 
 the kingdom of God in its final completeness and glory (Matt, 
 xxiv. 3, 37, 39 ; 1 Thess. iii. 13, iv. 15, v. 23 ; 2 Thess. ii. 1, 8 ; 
 r Cor. i. 7, xv. 23 ; Jas. v. 7 ; 2 Pet. i. 16, iii. 4 ; 1 John ii. 28, Src). 
 It also speaks of the kingdom of God, of the day of the Lord, and 
 
ST. MARK 9. i 221 
 
 glory of his Father with the holy angels. And he 9 
 said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There be some 
 here of them that stand />y, which shall in no wise 
 taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come 
 with power. 
 
 of the Lord himself as 'coming' (Matt. x. 28, xxiv. 30, 42; Luke 
 xvii. 20. xxii. 18 ; John xxi. 22 ; Acts ii. 20; 1 Cor. xi. 26, &c.\ 
 This 'coming' is associated with the end of the world, but also, 
 as it appears, e.g. in Matt, xxiv, xxv, with the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. The prophecies of the O. T. brought events together 
 which the course of history proved to be separated from each 
 other in time. They looked forward to the judgements of the 
 near future, and saw in these preliminary and partial acts of 
 judgement on the nations the coming of the kingdom of God, 
 which was at last to be supreme. So in the intimations made 
 by the N.T. on the subject of the Last Things, judicial acts or 
 redemptive acts of decisive significance, like the destruction of 
 the Temple or the presence of the Lord in the special gift of the 
 Holy Spirit, are described as 'comings' of the Lord, and are 
 identified with that final Advent to which in principle they 
 belonged. See also on chap. xiii. 
 
 in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Matthew 
 attaches the definite statement of judgement as well as glory — 
 ' then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds ' 
 ^xvi. 27 ,. The glory which the Son of man sees before him is given 
 by Luke as ins own glory, and the glory of the Father 1 (ix. 26;. 
 
 ix. 1. And he said unto them. This verse belongs to the 
 preceding. It is by mistake that it has been made the beginning 
 of a new chapter. The mal-arrangement has been due to taking 
 the words ' And he said unto them ' as the introduction to a new 
 paragraph. Or it may have been occasioned by the idea that what 
 Jesus said about his ' coming ' had its fulfilment in the event of the 
 transfiguration. 
 
 taste of death. That is, experience it : cf. Job xx. 18 ; Ps. 
 xxxiv. 8 ; Heb. ii. 9. The announcement recorded in this verse 
 is given in all three Synoptists ; most simply in Luke, who says 
 only 'till they see the kingdom of God '; more precisely in 
 Matthew — 'till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom' ; 
 most definitely in Mark — ' till they see the kingdom of God come 
 (i. e. already come) with power.' This is what some of the by- 
 standers are to see in their lifetime. How was this prediction 
 fulfilled ? Some say, in the coming of the Spirit and the first 
 triumphs of the Gospel. Others, in the manifestation of the 
 glory of the Son of man in the transfiguration. But the prophetic 
 
222 ST. MARK 9. 2 
 
 2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, 
 and James, and John, and bringeth them up into 
 a high mountain apart by themselves : and he was 
 
 words seem to point beyond an event so immediate, one indeed 
 that was to take place within a week. In the final Advent at the 
 end of the world, according to others ; or in the destruction of 
 Jerusalem and the displacement of the ancient Jewish dispensa- 
 tion. This last interpretation suits sufficiently well both the 
 nature of prophetic discourse (which sees the decisive event in 
 preliminary events of the same kind) and the indication of time. 
 
 ix. 2-8. The Transfiguration. Cf. Matt. xvii. 1-13 ; Luke 
 ix. 28-36. This exceptional event in our Lord's ministry is 
 recorded by all three Synoptists, and is referred to distinctly 
 in 2 Pet. i. 16-18. The three evangelical reports give substantially 
 the same account of the incident. They have much in common 
 also in the terms. The resemblance between Matthew and Mark 
 is particularly close, while the language of the third Gospel has 
 more a character of its own. Each of the Evangelists also has 
 something peculiar to himself. Only Matthew, e.g., tells us 
 that the disciples fell on their faces when they heard the voice, 
 and that Jesus came and touched them, and said, 'Arise, and 
 be not afraid.' To Luke alone we owe the mention of the 
 facts that Jesus ascended the mount to pray, and that it was 
 when he was praying that he became transfigured. The same 
 Evangelist is the only one who notices that Moses and Elijah 
 talked of the Lord's ' decease which he was about to accomplish 
 at Jerusalem/ and that ' Peter and they that were with him 
 were heavy with sleep.' In the description of the garments 
 Mark intensifies the sense of their glistering whiteness by adding 
 the words ' so as no fuller on earth can whiten them.' 
 
 2. after six days. So also in Matthew. But in Luke it is 
 ' about eight days ' — a less precise statement, as is indicated by 
 the ' about,' and one not inconsistent with the other. 
 
 Peter, and James, and John. The same select witnesses as 
 were with him in the death-chamber in the house of Jai'rus. 
 
 a high, mountain. The ' holy mount ' : cf. 2 Pet. i. 18. Luke 
 says simply 'the mountain.' Ancient tradition in one form 
 identifies this mountain with the Mount of Olives. But the 
 description ' high ' could not apply to that ; and the narratives 
 point to a different part of the Holy Land, as they shew Jesus 
 to have been in Galilee both before and after the event. A much 
 more important tradition makes it Mount Tabor. This meets 
 some of the conditions of the case ; and being followed by Cyril of 
 Jerusalem, Jerome, and other ancient authorities, it became widely 
 
ST. iVARK 9. 3, 4 223 
 
 transfigured before them: and his garments became 3 
 glistering, exceeding white; so as no fuller on earth 
 can whiten them. Aud there appeared unto them 4 
 
 accepted. Tabor is of sr me height (about 1,700 or 1,800 ft.) ; it 
 has a commanding pos: ion, rising as it does out of the plain 
 of Esdraelon ; and it i: not at an impossible distance from the 
 locality in which Jesus I t was. But there are serious objections 
 to it. It is not likely l|nat Jesus could have found on it the solitude 
 he sought ; for there appears to have been at this time a fortified 
 town or village on i< Josephus, Jew. War, iv. 1. 8, ii. 20. 6; 
 Antiq., xiv. 6. 3 . And further we see that Jesus was last 
 in the parts about Caesarea Philippi in the far north, and we 
 learn that after the Transfiguration he travelled through Galilee 
 to Capernaum (Mark ix. 30, 33 ; Matt. xvii. 22, 24). But it is 
 not probable that he should have gone all the way from Caesarea 
 Philippi to Tabor, passing Capernaum there and making his way 
 back to that city after the event. Hence the best scholars now 
 conclude in favour of Mount Hermon — a ' high mountain ' indeed, 
 for it rises over 9,000 ft. ; near enough to Caesarea Philippi to 
 be easily reached from thence in a few days ; and in all respects 
 a fit scene for such an event. 
 
 transfigured. The change came over him when he was 
 praying (Luke ix. 29) ; as it was also when he was praying that 
 the heavens opened, and the Holy Ghost descended on him at his 
 baptism (Luke iii. 21). The change is described most definitely 
 by Matthew and Mark as a ' transformation ' (Luke says simply 
 'the fashion of his countenance was altered'') or a change to the 
 effect that he was ' transfigured,' as all the English versions from 
 WycliflVs have agreed to render it. The O. T. has its parallel 
 case in the shining of the face of Moses which was due to his 
 speaking with the Lord on the Mount (Exod. xxxiv. 29). The 
 face of Stephen was seen ' as it had been the face of an angel ' 
 (Acts vi. 15). And in instances less exalted there is at times 
 a transfiguration of the countenance which is the effect of rapt 
 communion with God. 
 
 3. glistering : the word does not occur again in the N. T., but 
 elsewhere it is used of the ' flashing of burnished brass or gold ' 
 (1 Esdras viii. 56 ; 2 Esdras viii. 27) as Dr. Swete notices, ' or steel 
 (Nahum iii. 3), or of sunlight (1 Mace. vi. 39).' 
 
 exceeding white. The A. V. adds ' as snow,' appropriate to 
 the appearance of Hermon, and perhaps suggested by it, but 
 without sufficient documentary authority. 
 
 no fuller on earth can whiten them. Mark describes only 
 the appearance of the garments, and this touch is peculiar to him. 
 Matthew tells us that ' his garments became white as the light.' 
 
224 ST. MARK 9. 5-7 
 
 Elijah with Moses : and they were talking with Jesus. 
 
 5 And Peter answereth and saith to Jesus, Rabbi, it is 
 good for us to be here : and let us make three taber- 
 nacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for 
 
 6 Elijah. For he wist not what : o answer ; for they 
 
 7 became sore afraid. And there arrie a cloud over- 
 
 but notices also the change upon the person—' his face did shine as 
 the sun.' 
 
 4. Elijah with Moses. Representatives of the two great stages 
 of O. T. revelation, Prophecy and the Law. It was expected 
 that Elijah was to come, but here another has come with him — 
 Moses, of whose return the prophets said nothing. That is what 
 surprised Peter, and through Peter's recollections it has left its 
 impression on Mark's narrative. 
 
 talking- with Jesus. Luke gives the subject (ix. 31). It 
 was the event of which Jesus had just begun to speak openly. 
 
 5. Peter answereth. To the occasion, that is to say, or to 
 words left unuttered or at least unrecorded. Peter is the spokes- 
 man in all three Synoptists. From Luke we gather that Peter 
 broke in with his proposal that they should stay on just when 
 Elijah and Moses were withdrawing (ix. 33). 
 
 Rabbi. Mark gives the original Aramaic address ; for which 
 Matthew gives ' Lord/ and Luke a word of his own, ' Master,' 
 different from both and not conveying so definitely the idea of 
 teacher. 
 
 three tabernacles, or ' booths.' These were made by 
 intertwining the branches of trees, and on the slopes of Hermon 
 there would be brushwood enough for such a purpose. Perhaps 
 Peter had in mind the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 40, &c): 
 ' He would anticipate it by a week spent on this leafy height in 
 the presence of the three greatest masters of Israel' (Swete). He 
 spoke vaguely, with no very clear ideas beyond this, that it was 
 ' good ' for him and his brethren to be where they were, and 
 'good ' for them to remain in the presence of these three. 
 
 6. he wist not what to answer. The same is said of the 
 chosen three in the Agony of the Garden (xiv. 40). A scene so 
 wholly outside his experience, so overwhelming with its unwonted 
 glory and mystery, dazed Peter. He spoke he knew not what, 
 overcome by the terror, in which also James and John shared — 
 'for they became sore afraid.' 
 
 7. there came a cloud. Instead of an answer to Peter's well- 
 meant but only half-coherent proposal, a cloud, ' a bright cloud ' 
 (Matt. xvii. 5), swept down upon the scene and overshadowed 
 them all — not merely Jesus, and Elijah and Moses, but the disciples 
 
ST. MARK 0. 8 225 
 
 shadowing them : and there came a voice out of the 
 cloud, This is my beloved Son : hear ye him. And 8 
 suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any 
 more, save Jesus only with themselves. 
 
 also; for 'they feared/ Luke tells us, ' as the}' entered into the 
 cloud ' (ix. 34). The cloud came while the words were yet on 
 Peter's lips— 'while he was 3 T et speaking' (Matt. xvii. 5), 'while 
 he said these things' (Luke ix. 34). The overshadowing cloud 
 recalls the cloud that 'covered the tent of meeting,' by reason 
 of which Moses was ' not able to enter ' (Exod. xl. 34, 35). 
 Mention is made also of the 'cloud ' in the case of the Ascension 
 f Acts i. 9), and of the ' clouds ' in the announcement of the Second 
 Coming .Mark xiii. 26, xiv. 62 ; Rev. i. 7). In the O. T. the 
 ' cloud ' is associated with special manifestations of God, as in the 
 wilderness (Exod. xvi. 10, xix. 9, 16, xxiv. 15 ; Lev. xvi. 2 ; Num. 
 xi. 25), and at the dedication of the Temple (1 Kings viii. 10). 
 The later Jewish writings indicate that there was a belief that it 
 was to reappear in the time of the Messiah (2 Mace. ii. 8). 
 
 a voice out of the cloud. The voice was heard also at the 
 Baptism of Jesus. There it was meant for Jesus himself; here it 
 is addressed to the disciples. All three Synoptists report the 
 addition — 'hear ye him.' This 'hear 3'e him' spoke of a new 
 duty and a new relation. The men of the old Israel had listened to 
 Moses and the Prophets. Those who were to be the beginning 
 of the new Israel were to listen to Christ, the final utterer of ! 
 God's mind (Heb. i. 1). In 2 Peter the voice is mentioned, 
 and is described as having come ' from the excellent glory,' 
 and to have been ' heard come out of heaven ' by the Apostles 
 (i. 17, 18). Matthew adds that the disciples ■ fell on their face, 
 and were sore afraid ' (xvii. 6). The terrors already kindled b}' 
 the scene generally, and especially by the entering into the cloud, 
 were brought to their height by the voice breaking out of the cloud. 
 
 8. suddenly looking 1 round about, they saw no one. The 
 awful scene ended as unexpectedly as it had begun. All vanished 
 as at a touch, and only Jesus as they had known him was seen. 
 It was only when Jesus touched them as they lay prostrate and 
 stupefied with terror, and spoke his own word of cheer, that they 
 were relieved of their fears and lifted up their eyes again. The 
 discovery was immediately made that the vision was gone, and 
 things were again as they had been (Matt. xvii. 7, 8). 
 
 The report of this incident, resting upon the coincident testimony 
 of three narvatives, each with its own marks of independence, and 
 at least one. of them reproducing the recollections of an eye-witness, 
 cannot be,- explained away as an imaginative version of merely 
 
 Q 
 
226 ST. MARK 9. 9 
 
 9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, 
 he charged them that they should tell no man what 
 things they had seen, save when the Son of man should 
 
 natural phenomena, or as the highly-coloured record of mistaken 
 impressions. Least of all can it be explained away as a mythical 
 growth. For the idea of a suffering, dying Messiah was abhorrent to 
 the Jew, and there was nothing in the popular Jewish conception 
 of the great expected King that could form the nucleus on which 
 the mythological faculty might work till it produced a story like 
 this, having the ' decease' of Jesus as its heart. The event meant 
 much for Jesus himself. This change was not the object with 
 which he ascended the mountain, nor is anything said to suggest that 
 he looked for it. His object was to pray, and thereby to prepare 
 himself at this crisis of his ministry for the Passion that was 
 before him. The glory came to him when he was so engaged, 
 as angelic help came to him in the Temptation and in the Agony ; 
 and it strengthened him for his course. But the event meant much 
 also for the Apostles. They, too, had reached a crisis in their 
 calling. They had made their confession of their faith, and they 
 had been staggered by the announcement of his way of suffering. 
 They did not see all that happened on the mount ; for Luke tells 
 us that they were ' heavy with sleep,' and that it was only ' when 
 they were fully awake ' that ' they saw his glory.' But what they 
 did see and hear was an important element in their training. 
 They had a glimpse at least of the glory that was within and 
 behind the lowliness of the Master ; and it gave them the 
 assurance, in after years of trial and separation, that they ' did 
 not follow cunningly devised fables' when they looked for 'the 
 power and coming' of Christ, and made the same known to others 
 (2 Pet. i. 16). 
 
 ix. 9-13. Questions regarding the resurrection of the dead and the 
 cowing of Elijah : cf. Matt. xvii. 9-13. Of what passed as Jesus 
 and the three were on their way down from the mountain Luke tells 
 us nothing. He simply remarks that these witnesses of the Trans- 
 figuration ' held their peace, and told no man in those days any 
 of the things which they had seen' (Luke ix. 36). 
 
 9. as they were coming 1 down. From Luke's mention of 
 what took place ' next day ' (ix. 37) we may infer that the descent 
 took place the day after the Transfiguration, and early in the day. 
 charged them. The injunction to silence which had been 
 laid on others who would have proclaimed his miracles is now 
 laid upon the chosen three with regard to the mighty work done 
 on himself. But in this case there is a limit — till he is risen. Of 
 that event, his Resurrection, these men were to be witnesses and 
 preachers. 
 
ST. MARK 9. 10-12 227 
 
 have risen again from the dead. And they kept the ro 
 saying, questioning among themselves what the rising 
 again from the dead should mean. And they asked 11 
 him, saying, The scribes say that Elijah must first 
 come. And he said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh 12 
 first, and restoreth all things : and how is it written of 
 the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and 
 
 10. kept the saying". That is, they did not neglect this pro- 
 hibition, but held fast to it. So Luke says ' they held their peace. 1 
 
 questioning" among themselves. Though they were faithful 
 to Christ's charge and told no man, they had discussions among 
 themselves about the rising of the dead. These could scarcely be 
 about a resurrection of the dead generally; for the doctrine of 
 a resurrection was nothing unfamiliar, being one of the chief tenets 
 of the great Pharisaic party. They must have been about the strange 
 idea of a resurrection in the case of Jesus, implying unwelcome 
 and perplexing thoughts of the death of their Messiah. 
 
 11. they asked him. They had a further difficulty, which was 
 suggested probably by the appearance of Elijah on the Mount of 
 Transfiguration. And on this they interrogate Jesus. The scribes 
 (founding no doubt on Mai. iii. 1, iv. 5) taught them that Elijah 
 was to come before the Messiah himself. But here was an 
 appearance of Elijah after the Messiah's advent, and furthermore 
 Jesus had charged them to say nothing of it. What were they to 
 make of this ? 
 
 12. Elijah indeed cometh first. Jesus replies that it is true 
 indeed as the scribes said, but that they did not give the whole 
 truth. Elijah was to come before the Messiah ; and he was to 
 1 restore all things,' that is to say, to initiate a great moral 
 renovation of Israel which would prepare the way for Messiah 
 (Mai. iii. 2-4, iv. 6\ But there was more in their Scriptures than 
 that. They spoke not only of the prophet who was to precede 
 Messiah, but also of suffering and rejection as destined for Messiah 
 himself. 
 
 The title ' the Son of Man. ,' The N. T. says nothing of the origin 
 of this great title, nor does it explain its meaning. There is much 
 diversity of opinion, therefore, on the subject, and it cannot be 
 said that, even after all the patient inquiry that has been expended 
 on it, all things are clear. 
 
 With respect to the use of the term, it is enough to say that 
 there is a marked difference in this matter between the O. T. and 
 the N. T. In the O.T. the phrase 'son of man' is often simply 
 
 synonym for man — a member of the human family, and with 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 ST. MARK 9. 12 
 
 special reference to the frailty and dependence of man (Num. xxiii. 
 19 ; Job xxv. 6, xxxv. 8 ; Ps. cxliv. 3 ; Isa. li. 12, &c). But in the 
 prophecy of-Ezekiel it is used over ninety times as the name by 
 which the prophet is addressed. Also in the Book of Daniel it 
 appears in the description of the ' one like unto a son of man ' who 
 receives c dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, 
 nations, and languages should serve him' (vii. 13, 14). In the 
 N. T., again, its use is singular and of great interest. It is our 
 Lord's chosen designation of himself. With the exception of one 
 occurrence in Acts (vii. 56), the quotation in Heb. ii. 6, and 
 perhaps two passages in the Apocalypse (Rev. i. 13, xiv. 14) it is 
 found only in the Gospels ; and, with the exception of Stephen's 
 case in the passage in Acts, and these possible occurrences in the 
 visions of John (Rev. i. 13, xiv. 14), it is never used directly of 
 Christ but by himself. It occurs some eighty times in the Gospels, 
 representing at least forty distinct occasions. Its application also is 
 varied. Sometimes it is used with special reference to our Lord's 
 life or ministry on earth, particularly his humiliation, poverty, or 
 sufferings ; at other times with special regard to his exaltation, 
 his glory, his return. Sometimes it is used in connexion with 
 prerogatives exercised then on earth — such as, lordship over the 
 sabbath, the forgiveness of sins ; at other times in connexion with 
 the prerogative of judgement in the future. 
 
 As to its origin, it appears sufficiently clear that the title goes 
 back to the figure of the 'one like unto a son of man ' seen in the 
 Danielic vision, and that is the figure of a man above the ordinary 
 human measure — a glorious being, the sovereign of an everlast- 
 ing and universal dominion. This figure, which appears to have 
 originally represented the people of Israel in their ideal character 
 and victorious destiny, was understood at a very early period to 
 betoken the Messiah. Further, in looking for the origin of the title, 
 regard must be had to the fact that in the non-canonical Jewish 
 writings, especially in that section of the Book of Enoch which is 
 known as the 'Parables' or 'Similitudes,' the 'Son of Man' is 
 a designation of the Messiah, and of the Messiah in the character 
 of a superhuman being, seated on the throne beside God 'the 
 Head of Days,' and acting as judge of men. But in addition to 
 this the title founds also on the representation of the ' Son of Man ' 
 in Ps. viii, and probably in the enlargement of its meaning it owed 
 something to the pictureof thesufferingservant of the Lord in Isaiah. 
 
 As regards its meaning, one of the questions specially discussed 
 is whether it is a Messianic title in the proper sense, distinctly and 
 definitely so, used by our Lord himself and understood by others 
 as a name for the Messiah. The way in which the name is received 
 on significant occasions in the N. T. (e. g. John xii. 34) ; the fact 
 that our Lord disclosed his Messiahship only gradually ; and the 
 further circumstance that the title occurs repeatedly before Peter 
 
ST. MARK 9. 13, 14 229 
 
 be set at nought? But I say unto you, that Elijah 13 
 is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever 
 they listed, even as it is written of him. 
 
 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great 14 
 
 and the Apostles made their great confession that Jesus was the 
 Christ, point to the conclusion that it was not a current and well- 
 understood Messianic name, at least not one readily taken in that 
 sense by the people generally, and that it was used by our Lord 
 during his Galilean ministry to veil rather than to reveal his 
 Messianic claims, and to present him in another character. It is 
 the select name by which he expresses the uniqueness of his 
 personality in respect of his peculiar relation to men. On the one 
 hand it identifies him with us, setting him before us as true man, 
 and placing him on the plane of our common humanity. On the 
 other hand it marks him off as different from us, not 'a son of 
 man' simply, but i the Son of Man,' beside whom there is none 
 else — one in whom manhood is seen in its realized ideal, the 
 perfect, representative man, like us and with us in all normal 
 human qualities, but also above us and apart from us in the com- 
 pleteness of his humanity and in the prerogative and authority 
 belonging to one in a unique relation to God as well as to us. 
 
 13. Elijah is come. And not only is it that the coming of Elijah 
 was foretold. It has taken place (in the case of the Baptist), and 
 who has observed it ? His fate has been to have had ' done unto 
 him whatever men listed ' — an indirect but expressive reference to 
 Herod's cruel and arbitrary action. So the Forerunner has come 
 and has been killed. What of the Messiah himself, therefore, and 
 the things he shall suffer at the hands of men ? 
 
 as it is written of him. This refers to what Jesus has just 
 said of the fate of the second Elijah. The three Apostles under- 
 stood that Jesus identified Elijah with John, and Matthew expressly 
 tells us that they did (xvii. 13). On an earlier occasion indeed 
 Jesus had pointed to this identification (Matt. xi. 14). But where 
 is it ' written ' that Elijah was to suffer ? It is not enough to say 
 that Jesus spoke with reference simply to the statements made in 
 the O. T. on the sufferings of prophets generally. For the ' of him ' 
 makes it clear that the particular case of Elijah is in view. What 
 is meant, therefore, must be what is written in the O. T. regarding 
 the treatment of Elijah by Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings xix). This 
 was typical of the treatment of John by Herod and Herodias. 
 
 ix. 14729. Healing of the Demoniac boy : cf. Matt. xvii. 14-20 ; 
 Luke ix. 37-43. Mark's narrative is most graphic and circum- 
 stantial. The narratives of Matthew and Luke arc both condensed, 
 the former shewing special signs of compression. YcL both. 
 
230 ST. MARK 9. ij 
 
 multitude about them, and scribes questioning with them. 
 
 J 5 And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, 
 
 were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 
 
 Matthew and Luke give some particulars not mentioned by 
 Mark. 
 
 14. came to the disciples. They had returned now to the 
 place and the company they had left for the time. None of the 
 Apostles had remained at the foot of the mountain. Jesus and the 
 three found those from whom the}' had parted now in the midst of 
 a crowd of people, and engaged in a discussion with certain scribes. 
 These scribes, who belonged probably to some synagogues in 
 the district, seized an opportunity which presented itself for 
 damaging the disciples of Jesus in the eyes of the public. 
 
 questioning 1 with. them. The incident of the discussion with 
 the scribes is omitted both by Matthew and by Luke. Mark not only 
 gives it, but indicates its occasion and its subject. The matter at issue 
 was the failure of the disciples to effect a certain cure. This gave 
 the scribes their opportunity to throw doubt on ' the authority over 
 unclean spirits 1 (vi. 7) which Jesus was said to have given them. 
 Their failure in this case may well have been a perplexity to the 
 disciples themselves, raising questions in their minds and making 
 it difficult for them to answer the scribes. 
 
 15. straightway all the multitude. As if with one impulse 
 the crowd turned from the scribes to Jesus. It is not said that 
 the scribes themselves shewed any such interest in his appearance. 
 
 greatly amazed : the word is very strong, and is found only 
 in Mark. He uses it when he tells us that Jesus was ' greatly 
 amazed ' in his Agony (xiv. 33), and again when he reports how 
 the women were ' amazed ' when they entered the Lords tomb 
 (xvi. 5, 6). The adjective connected with the verb occurs also in 
 the description of the ' amazement ' of the people when they saw 
 the lame man walking and leaping (Acts iii. to). What caused the 
 4 amazement ' of the multitude on this occasion ? The lingering 
 radiance left by the transfiguration on the face of Jesus, say some. 
 They point to the analogy of the glory on the face of Moses when 
 he came down from the Mount of Vision and Communion (Exod. 
 xxxiv. 29, &c). But there is nothing in the narrative to suggest 
 that the countenance of Jesus was changed in any way ; and while 
 the effect of the sight in the case of Moses was that Aaron and the 
 people were l afraid to come nigh him' (Exod. xxxiv. 30), in this 
 case the effect was that the people ran to Jesus and saluted him. 
 The cause was rather the suddenness and opportuneness of his 
 appearance. The multitude had a case before them in which the 
 healing power of the disciples had come to nothing, and Jesus 
 himself was far away. When they were disconcerted by it and the 
 
ST. MARK 9. 16-18 231 
 
 And he asked them, What question ye with them ? 16 
 xA.nd one of the multitude answered him, Master, I 17 
 brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit ; 
 and wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down : 18 
 
 disciples themselves were baffled, the Master, whom they thought 
 to be out of reach to help them, unexpectedly comes upon the 
 scene. All thoughts of the scribes and their objections, the 
 disciples and their discomfiture, are lost in the sense of startled, 
 glad surprise, and they run to welcome him. 
 
 16. lie asked them. He took no notice of the scribes, but 
 turned to the people, seeing they had some difficult matter in hand, 
 and asking them what it was. 
 
 What question ye with them ? That is, with the disciples, 
 not with the scribes. The multitude had turned with their questions 
 to the disciples when they heard the scribes putting their diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 17. one of the multitude answered. The reply to the inter- 
 rogation of Jesus comes from an individual in the crowd, and from the 
 one who could least keep silent. Matthew tells us how the man 
 came to Jesus, ' kneeling to him ' and addressing him as ' Lord ' 
 (xvii. 14, 15). Luke, taking the incident perhaps in its first stage, 
 puts it as if the man had spoken from within the crowd — ' a man 
 from the multitude cried ' (ix. 38). 
 
 Master. Here again in the sense of Teacher. 
 
 I brought unto thee my son. From this we infer that the 
 father had come expecting to find Jesus himself there, but had had 
 to be content with the disciples. Matthew refers only to the 
 application to the disciples (xvii. 16). Luke tells us that the boy 
 was the man's ' only child ' (ix. 38). 
 
 a dumb spirit. He could cry out (Lukeix. 39), but could not 
 utter articulate sounds. It appears from our Lord's word that the 
 unclean spirit was also deaf (ix. 25). Cf. the case in Decapolis 
 (vii. 32). What is said of the spirit describes what is the condition 
 of the afflicted boy. 
 
 18. wheresoever it taketh him. The boy was the victim of fits, 
 which were of extreme violence, frequent occurrence ('oft-times,' 
 ix. 33), and of a kind that might come upon him without warning 
 anywhere. They were tke convulsive, recurrent, perhaps periodi- 
 cal seizures of an epileptic. So Matthew represents the father as 
 saying — ' he is epileptic' (xvii. 15). 
 
 dasheth him down. The combined accounts of the three 
 Synoptists give a harrowing picture of the effects of these 
 seizures — the sudden scream (' he suddenly crieth out,' Luke 
 ix. 39 . the hurling of the sufferer on the ground, the tearing 
 convulsions, the foaming at the mouth, the wallowing, the grinding 
 
232 ST. MARK 9. 19-22 
 
 and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth 
 away : and I spake to thy disciples that they should 
 j 9 cast it out; and they were not able. And he answereth 
 them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall 
 I be with you ? how long shall I bear with you ? bring 
 
 20 him unto me. And they brought him unto him : and 
 when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him 
 grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed 
 
 21 foaming. And he asked his father, How long time is 
 it since this hath come unto him? And he said, 
 
 22 From a child. And oft-times it hath cast him both 
 into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him : 
 but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on 
 
 of the teeth, the pining, wasting form. The word used for this 
 last-mentioned effect is the one used of the withering of the hand 
 of the man in the synagogue (iii. 1), of the plant that had no root 
 (iv. 6), of the grass (Jas. i. n), and of the drying up of the water 
 of the Euphrates (Rev. xvi. 12). 
 
 I spake to thy disciples. In the belief that they had the 
 power, having perhaps seen it used to good effect (vi. 12). So 
 that he too would be surprised at the failure. 
 
 21. he asked his father. The interesting details given from 
 this point on to the first half of verse 25 are peculiar to Mark. 
 They shew at how early a stage in the boy's life (' from a child,' 
 from the time when he was quite a little boy) these seizures began, 
 how frequent they were, and how dreadful — taking in point of fact, 
 as the casting ' into the fire and into the waters ' indicates, the 
 form of suicidal frenzy. They shew also how the father's faith 
 had been tried, and how nevertheless it could rise to the word of 
 Jesus. 
 
 22. if thou canst do anything". The leper had said, 'If thou 
 wilt, thou canst' (i. 40). But this man's confidence in the 
 Healer had suffered the shock given it by the unexpected power- 
 lessness of the disciples of the Healer. 
 
 23. If thou canst ! This is a repetition. Jesus takes up the 
 
 I father's word and utters it again with a touch of compassionate 
 rebuke ; while he also corrects it by declaring how the question 
 of the ability turns upon the question of the faith. ' If thou canst, 
 thou sayest : but it is to the believer that all becomes possible.' So 
 the question of the possibility of healing for the son is turned 
 from what is in Jesus to what is in the father himself. 
 
ST. MARK 9. 23-26 253 
 
 us, and help us. And Jesus said unto him, If thou 23 
 canst ! All things are possible to him that believeth. 
 Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, 34 
 I believe ; help thou mine unbelief. And when Jesus -5 
 saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked 
 the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and 
 deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and 
 enter no more into him. And having cried out, and 26 
 torn him much, he came out : and the child became 
 as one dead ; insomuch that the more part said, He is 
 
 24. Straightway the father of the child cried out. The 
 
 father understands how the Master's word throws him back in the 
 first instance upon himself, and upon the spiritual condition on his 
 side for the efficient exercise of the power on the side of Jesus. 
 Instantly he rises to a higher faith — a faith, too, which can declare 
 itself openly, and at the same time recognizes its infirmity and 
 petitions for help in it. The father's faith is accepted, as in the case 
 of the Syro-Phoenician woman, for the faith which the sufferer \ 
 is not in a position to offer. 
 
 help thou mine unbelief. The help which is needed, he 
 sees, is first for himself — for the faith which had been like to fail in 
 him, for the unbelief into which he had been driven. Those who 
 best believe best know the unbelief that lurks in their hearts. 
 1 There is no contradiction here, and scarcely even paradox, but 
 only deep sincerity in the beginnings of faith, joined with the 
 eagerness of strong desire for a special gift ' i v Clarke). 
 
 25. when Jesus saw that a multitude came running- together. 
 In the father's faith the condition on which the application of the 
 healing power was suspended is now made good. There is no 
 reason for further delay. There is an obvious reason for 
 speedy action. For the crowd is becoming restless and excited. 
 Jesus sees this, and at once speaks the word of expulsion for the 
 unclean spirit and deliverance for the boy. He speaks it in his own 
 name, with emphasis on the / — '/ command thee.' 
 
 26. torn him much. The command had been uttered in 
 a tone of particular authority and in very definite terms — ' come 
 out of him, and enter no more into him.' The case required this, 
 for it was one of extraordinary severity. This was seen in its very 
 last stage. Convulsions seized the boy again ere he obtained 
 relief — convulsions so violent and protracted that they left him 
 utterly exhausted, and as if the life had gone out of him. Most 
 who saw him took him indeed for dead. 
 
234 ST. MARK 9. 27-30 
 
 27 dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised 
 
 28 him up ; and he arose. And when he was come into 
 the house, his disciples asked him privately, saying, We 
 
 29 could not cast it out. And he said unto them, This 
 kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer. 
 
 30 And they went forth from thence, and passed through 
 Galilee ; and he would not that any man should know 
 
 27. took him toy the hand. So giving him matter of fact help 
 in his collapse and raising him out of it ; as he did in the two 
 previous cases of Peter's wife's mother (i. 31) and the daughter 
 of Jai'rus (v. 41). And the cure was complete — the sufferer who 
 lay on the ground still and helpless as a corpse arose, and, as 
 Matthew tells us, ' the boy was cured from that hour' (xvii. 18). 
 Luke adds that Jesus ' gave him back to his father ' (ix. 42). 
 
 28. his disciples asked him privately. Luke alone records 
 the impression produced on the people by this miracle. They 
 recognized the hand of God in it — ' they were all astonished at 
 the majesty of God' (ix. 43). Matthew and Mark notice what 
 happened with the disciples themselves. The work being finished, 
 Jesus leaves the excitable crowd and goes indoors. When the 
 Twelve are in private with him, the nine ask him, as it was 
 natural for them to do, why they had failed. 
 
 29. by nothing", save hy prayer. The A. V. adds ; and fasting.' 
 But the shorter reading of the R.V. is the better supported. 
 With ' this kind,' that is to say, this kind of demons, such 
 aggravated cases of possession, nothing availed but prayer. The 
 cause of the inability of the disciples, therefore, was in themselves. 
 Matthew reports Jesus to have told them in explicit terms that it 
 was because of their ' little faith.' They had been trusting in their 
 commission, and had thought but little of the moral conditions, 
 those of prayer and faith, on which the efficiency of their gift 
 depended. 
 
 ix. 30-32. Second open Announcement of the Passion and the 
 Resurrection. Cf. Matt. xvii. 22, 23 ; Luke ix. 43-45. 
 
 30. from thence. That is, from the foot of Hermon and the 
 far north. 
 
 through Galilee. Thus by the west side of Jordan. On their 
 way to Caesarea Philippi and the north they may have come by 
 the east side of the river, or they may have kept by the west side 
 so far and have crossed at a point below the waters of Merom. 
 The route which they took now was probably 'by Dan across the 
 slopes of Lebanon, thus escaping the publicity of the ordinary 
 high roads, and securing secrecy and seclusion ' (Maclear). 
 
ST. MARK 9. 31-34 235 
 
 it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, 31 
 The Son of man is delivered up into the hands of 
 men, and they shall kill him ; and when he is killed, 
 after three days he shall rise again. But they under- 32 
 stood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 
 
 And they came to Capernaum : and when he was 33 
 in the house he asked them, What were ye reasoning 
 in the way ? But they held their peace : for they had 34 
 
 31. taught his disciples. Not on a single occasion, but re- 
 peatedly during the course of the journey. This teaching and 
 training of the Twelve made his work then, and his chief subject 
 was his Death and Resurrection. Luke adds that Jesus bade them 
 let his words on these great topics sink into their ears (ix. 44). 
 
 delivered up. So too, in Matthew. A still clearer announce- 
 ment than the former. 
 
 32. afraid to ask him. So. too ; in Luke. Matthew says 
 they were ' exceeding sorry ' (xvii. 23). They had, therefore, 
 some indistinct and painful sense of what he meant, but no proper 
 comprehension of it ; and they refrained from asking him. The 
 awe of his words made them shrink from a closer acquaintance 
 with their purport. They had seen also how Jesus could rebuke 
 even Peter when he spoke rash words on the former occasion 
 (Mark viii. 33). 
 
 ix. 33-37. Discussions about Precedence: cf. Matt, xviii. 1-5; 
 Luke ix. 46-48. Immediately before this, Matthew, and he alone, 
 introduces the narrative of the half-shekel in the mouth of the 
 fish. 
 
 33. to Capernaum. Here he had begun his Galilean ministry, 
 and here, so far as the Gospels shew, he closed it. After his 
 Resurrection he may have been twice at least in the neighbourhood 
 'Matt, xxviii. 16 ; John xxi. 1). But there is no reference to his 
 being in the town itself from the time of this return onwards. 
 His wa3 1 ' now was to be to the south. 
 
 in the house. Perhaps Simon's house, or Levi's ( i. 29, 
 ii. 15). 
 
 asked them. He had observed them disputing on the way, 
 and perhaps had overheard them in part. 
 
 34. held their peace. Realizing now the impropriety of their 
 conduct. Mark and Luke refer to the discussion as if it did not 
 go beyond the disciples themselves. Matthew tells us that the 
 disciples, perhaps at a further point in our Lord's address, came 
 to Jesus with the question — ' Who then is greatest in the kingdom 
 
236 ST. MARK 9. 35-37 
 
 disputed one with another in the way, who was the 
 
 35 greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve ; 
 and he saith unto them, If any man would be first, 
 
 36 he shall be last of all, and minister of all. And he 
 took a little child, and set him in the midst of them : 
 
 37 and taking him in his arms, he said unto them, Who- 
 soever shall receive one of such little children in my 
 
 of heaven ? ' (xviii. 1). The discussion probably had its occasion in 
 the selection of the three to be the companions of their Master 
 on the mount. Did this mean that these three were greater than 
 the rest of them ? Were there to be such distinctions and pre- 
 ferences in the kingdom of the Messiah ? 
 
 35. sat down. As a Jewish Rabbi did when he was about to 
 teach. 
 
 the twelve. The entire Apostolic band. All had need to 
 learn what true greatness was, and how it was to be attained in 
 the new kingdom Jesus founded. The lesson was repeated on 
 a later occasion (Matt, xxiii. 8, &c. ; Luke xxii. 24, &c). 
 
 If any man would be first. The lesson is given first in 
 the form of deliberate, oral statement. The condition of greatness 
 in his kingdom is the spiritual condition of humility — a humility 
 that glories in service, the service not of a class but of all. 
 
 36. took a little child. The verbal lesson is followed up by an 
 object-lesson which none could mistake. A child is looking on 
 or amusing himself near by. He is unnamed. There is a tradition, 
 but one of small value, that he was the Ignatius who grew up to 
 be the famous bishop and martyr. It is suggested that he may 
 have been Peter's child (cf. i. 30). Jesus calls the little one 
 (Matt, xviii. 2) as he had called the disciples, and takes him 
 beside himself ('by his side,' says Luke, ix. 47), and sets him in 
 the heart of the company of the Twelve, and then lifts him up 
 into his arms, and so repeats his lesson. Mark alone records 
 the taking of the child into his arms. Matthew gives the words 
 which he spoke on the occasion at greater length (xviii. 3, &c). 
 Jesus had himself been taken as a babe into the arms of the aged 
 Simeon (Luke ii. 28). 
 
 37. receive one of such little children. This child was the 
 representative of the class of little children, and a type also of 
 the order of true disciples — simple, trustful, unassuming. 
 
 in my name: lit. i on my name,' that is, 'on the ground of 
 what I am,' 'out of regard for me.' The 'name 1 is the sum of 
 what a man is known to be and to do. The ' name of Christ' is all 
 that he is revealed to be in dignity, character, authority, and deed. 
 
ST. MARK 9. 38,39 237 
 
 name, receiveth me : and whosoever receiveth me, 
 receiveth not me, but him that sent me. 
 
 John said unto him, Master, we saw one casting 38 
 out devils in thy name: and we forbade him, because 
 he followed not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not : 39 
 
 receiveth . . . him that sent me. True greatness is found 
 not in the assertion of self above others, but in lowly self-denying 
 service v^r others. The note of true discipleship is the possession 
 of the spirit of a child, which is the spirit of Christ. To recognize 
 this spirit and receive the humble disciple in whom it is seen, 
 is to recognize and receive Christ himself. Nor is this the end 
 of all. So to receive Christ is to receive God Himself. For 
 Christ is in the world, not of himself, but as sent by God and 
 representing God. 
 
 ix. 38-40. John's report of a case of interference zvith the work of 
 one out the circle of disciples : cf. Luke ix. 49, 50. 
 
 38. John said. John seldom appears in any prominent way 
 in the S3 floptical narratives, and only on this one occasion is he 
 spokesman. He is coupled with James in the ambitious request 
 for the chief places in the kingdom (x. 35), and with Peter and 
 James an I Andrew in the question about the time of the end 
 (xiii. 3). 
 
 we *aw one casting 1 out devils (' demons') in thy name. 
 The Master's word just uttered about receiving one in his name 
 recalls an incident in the work of the disciples, and John is not 
 the man to keep it back. Where or when the incident took place 
 is not t Probably it was during the mission in Northern 
 
 Galilee on which they had already reported. 
 
 we foibade him : or rather, l tried to forbid him.' They had 
 seen one, /ho had not the right that comes from discipleship and 
 the possession of a commission, taking a liberty, as they judged it, 
 with the name of Jesus in the work of exorcism, and they tried 
 to stop him. John is uneasy about this. Were they right in so 
 acting? Was this in accordance with the Master's mind? Jesus 
 had spoken of doing something in his name, but it was receiving, 
 not rejecting. 
 
 because he followed not us. But Luke says, ' because he 
 followeth not with us' (ix. 49 s . They had a reason for their action, 
 and John states it. It was the fact that the man was not one of 
 themselves, a fellow disciple. The narrative suggests, especially 
 in Christ's reply, that the man, though he had not joined the circle 
 of professed disciples, acted in sincerity and believed in some 
 measure in Jesus and the power of his name. 
 
 39. Forbid him not. The answer of Jesus to the implied 
 
238 ST. MARK 9. 40-41 
 
 for there is no man which shall do a mighty work in 
 my name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me. 
 4°» 41 For he that is not against us is for us. For whosoever 
 shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are 
 Christ's, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise 
 
 question of John was direct and definite. It meant that they had 
 erred by excess of zeal. To such a man their attitude bad best 
 been one of neutrality, or sufferance, not of positive repudiation. 
 Compare the case of Joshua and the reply of Moses (Num. xi. 
 28, 29). 
 
 speak evil of me. Jesus, too, gives his reason. There was 
 nothing to fear from leaving such a case alone. A man who, 
 though yet outside, had faith enough in the power of the name of 
 Jesus to think of using it in casting out demons, was not likely to 
 prove an enemy. Rather might he be gained as a friend, 
 
 40. Por he that is not against xxs is for us. On other 
 occasion, but also in connexion with a case of possession. Jesus 
 said — ' He that is not with me is against me ' (Matt. xii. 30}. The 
 cases are different, and the two sayings are in principle the same. 
 It is the simple principle that we cannot be for and against, friend 
 and foe, at the same time. One cannot be against Christ if he has 
 faith, however imperfect, in his name. One cannot be the friend 
 of Christ if he has so little faith in him as to think that his works 
 are works of Satan. The one saying does not negative the other, 
 but supplements it. The one deals with our conduct towards 
 others, of whose acts we are partial judges ; the other with our 
 inner attitude to Christ. 
 
 ix. 41-50. Resumption of our Lord's teaching on discipleship. 
 The question of offences. Cf. Matt, xviii. 6-9 ; Luke xviA. 1, 2. 
 
 41. because ye are Christ's. The sentence means literally, as 
 it is given in the margin of the R. V., 'in name that ye are Christ's,' 
 that is, on the ground that ye belong to Christ. Hence the great 
 Pauline phrase (1 Cor. iii. 23 ; 2 Cor. x. 7 ; cf. also Rom. viii. 9 ; 
 1 Cor. i. 12). At this point the teaching, which had been broken 
 in upon by John's report, is resumed. The subject remains the 
 same, and Jesus proceeds to speak first of the worth of the 
 smallest service rendered to a disciple in the spirit of a disciple. 
 So simple an act as the giving of a cup of cold water — a thing that 
 no one in these hot lands would grudge to do — if done for Christ's 
 sake, has a certain and enduring reward. The use of the official 
 term ' Christ' in place of f the Son of man,' is to be noticed here. 
 The time is coming when the Messianic claims of Jesus are to be 
 made openty and definitely. 
 
ST. MARK <). 42,43 239 
 
 lose his reward. And whosoever shall cause one of 4 2 
 these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it 
 were better for him if a great millstone were hanged 
 about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And 43 
 if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off: it is 
 good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than 
 having thy two hands to go into hell, into the un- 
 
 42. cause ... to stumble. On the other hand an injury (it is 
 a spiritual injury that is in view) done to a disciple, however lowly, 
 brings heavy penalty to the wrongdoer. The infirm ones, who 
 can be so easily hurt, ought to have special consideration. On 
 this principle Jesus himself acted, even in the case of those outside 
 (cf. Matt. xvii. 27. This principle of patient regard for the weak 
 has a large place also both in the teaching and in the practice 
 of Paul (Rom. xiv. 21 ; 1 Cor. viii. 13 ; 2 Cor. xi. 29). 
 
 better for him if a great millstone. The word means 
 literally ' an ass-millstone,' that is one turned by an ass. What is 
 meant by this ? The ordina^ hand-mill, as it may be seen in the 
 East to-day, consisted of two circular stones one above the other, 
 the upper one being the one that did the grinding. It was worked 
 by women, female slaves, and others (Exod. xi. 5 ; Judges ix. 53). 
 This upper stone was sometimes called the 'ass,' and so some 
 think this is what is in view here. But it is only in classical Greek 
 that th* word * ass ' is so used. Hence the reference is to another 
 kind nillstone, the tdhdnet, which was large enough to require 
 an animal to work it. A strong figure expressing utter loss, 
 a periRl Ly from which there is no escape. 
 
 43. if thy band cause tbee to stumble. Jesus carries this 
 serious question of offences now from the case of injuries inflicted 
 on ot 1 ,s to that of wrongs done to ourselves. Spiritual hurt may 
 com* t< a man from himself, from some part of his nature which he 
 surh to become unsound. What he does injuriously or incon- 
 sidera*ely to others may also mean injury to himself. It is his 
 
 n, therefore, to cut off the occasion at whatever cost and 
 
 wli ver it may lie, whether in hand, in foot, or in eye. In the 
 
 personal life, too, such is the need for self-sacrifice. 
 
 into life. Life, that is, in the sense not of mere existence, 
 
 but the good or joy of life — ' life that is life indeed ' (1 Tim. vi. 19). 
 into bell. That is, ' into Gehenna.' This word Gehenna, 
 gh it is not found in the Fourth Gospel, occurs eleven times 
 
 m the Synoptists. It represents the O.T. Ge Hinnom, • the valley 
 Hinnom,' 'the valley of the son of Hinnom,' 'the valley of 
 
 the children of Hinnom' (Neh. xi. 30; Joshua xv. 8, xviii. 16; 
 
240 ST. MARK 9. 45-49 
 
 45 qnenchable fire. And if thy foot cause thee to stumble, 
 cut it off: it is good for thee to enter into life halt, 
 rather than having thy two feet to be cast into hell. 
 
 47 And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, cast it out : 
 it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God 
 with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast 
 
 48 into hell ; where their worm dieth not, and the fire 
 
 49 is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with 
 
 2 Chron. xxviii. 3 ; Jer. vii. 32 ; 2 Kings xxiii. to) ; the name 
 given to a gorge in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem where in 
 ancient times idolatrous Israelites practised the horrid rites of 
 Moloch. The Topheth in it, which was associated with the 
 sacrifices of children, was defiled by Josiah, and the place became 
 a receptacle for the dead bodies of animals and refuse of all kinds. 
 The horrors associated with the name made it a natural figure for 
 the place of future punishment, and that sense it bears in the later 
 Jewish books, the Book of Enoch (xxvii. 1), the Sibylline Oracles 
 (i. 103), 4 Esdras (ii. 29), &c. Our Lord uses it here and else- 
 where, in his most solemn utterances, in this sense of the final 
 place or condition of retribution. 
 
 into the unquenchable fire. Another figure of speech, 
 recalling the closing words of the second Isaiah (Jxvi. 24). It is 
 taken perhaps from the fires that burned in the ancient G 
 Hiimom. The existence of these fires, however, which are 
 alleged to have been kept burning perpetually for the consumption 
 of the offal deposited in the ravine, is not certain. In any ase it 
 is the figure of a lasting spiritual penalty. Verses 44, 46, which 
 appear in the A. V., are rightly omitted by the R.V. as being 
 insufficiently attested. 
 
 47. the kingdom of God. The phrase is used hen as an 
 equivalent to the ' life,' which in the previous verses expresses 
 one of the two final issues of our doings with others and with 
 ourselves. 
 
 48. where their worm dieth not. Yet another strong figure, 
 again recalling Isa. lxvi. 24, and expressing a future, spiritual 
 penalty that does not exhaust itself. It is 'a figurative designation' 
 says Meyer, ' of the extremely painful and endless punishments of 
 hell (not merely the terrors of conscience).' 
 
 49. every one shall he salted with fire. The clause added 
 by the A. V., 'and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt, 1 has 
 considerable support, but not enough to give it a sure place in 
 the text. This declaration about being salted with fire stands 
 absolutely alone in the Gospels. Its meaning and its particular 
 
ST. MARK 9. 50—IO. 1 241 
 
 fire. Salt is good : but if the salt have lost its saltness, 5° 
 wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, 
 and be at peace one with another. 
 
 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the 10 
 
 point here are not easy to grasp. It is introduced in explanation 
 or enforcement of the preceding solemn statement, which inculcates 
 the wisdom of sacrificing hand, foot, or eye rather than risk endless 
 loss. It seems to be connected with the immediately preceding 
 mention of a fire that is not quenched, as if the words had run 
 thus — 'Yes, the fire, I say, is not quenched, for it is with fire all 
 are to be salted.' The key to its meaning is found probably in 
 the Levitical regulation which provided that with all oblations salt 
 was to be offered (Lev. ii. 13). Salt was used in connexion 
 with the making of covenants, and the sacrificial salt of the 
 Levitical offerings was the symbol of the covenant-relation be- 
 tween God and Israel. But that covenant had its responsibilities 
 and its retributive side to the faithless, as well as its gracious side 
 to the true. So the disciples of Christ are in a covenant-relation, 
 and there is a test of their attitude to it by which each of them 
 shall be tried. That test is a Divine fire, the fire of the Divine 
 holiness, which has a twofold action, as the covenant-relation 
 has a twofold aspect. In the case of the true it will preserve 
 and purify and bring reward ; in the case of the false, who enter 
 into Gehenna, it will burn and bring penalty. Hence the necessity 
 for the practise of the sacrifice of self, that that reward may be 
 gained and this loss escaped. 
 
 50. lost its saltness. The sweeping out of salt that has lost 
 its virtue and become useless or hurtful, travellers tell us, is still 
 a common sight in Palestine. 
 
 wherewith will ye season it? Salt once spoilt can never 
 have its saltness restored. So if the qualities which make the 
 true disciple — fidelity to his covenant-relation, consideration for 
 the weak, self-abnegation, and the like — are turned to faithlessness 
 and selfishness, what remains of the discipleship, and what can 
 restore the loss ? 
 
 Have salt in yourselves. Be true to your covenant obliga- 
 tions, to all that makes your discipleship. 
 
 and be at peace one with another. Let this fidelity to your 
 relation to Christ fulfil itself in brotherly relations with one and 
 another. So the words bring us back to the disputing of the 
 disciples (ix. 33 s ) which had been their occasion. Selfish claims 
 for the chief places, wranglings about precedence — such things 
 are not of the spirit of the disciple. 
 
 x. 1 12. Departure from Galilee. Questions of Divorce: cf. 
 Matt. xix. 1 9. Partial parallels also in Matt. v. 31, 32 ; Luke 
 
242 ST. MARK 10. 2-5 
 
 borders of Judaea and beyond Jordan : and multitudes 
 come together unto him again; and, as he was wont, 
 
 2 he taught them again. And there came unto him 
 Pharisees, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to 
 
 3 put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered 
 and said unto them, What did Moses command you ? 
 
 4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorce- 
 
 5 ment, and to put her away. But Jesus said unto them, 
 For your hardness of heart he wrote you this command- 
 
 xvi. 18. Mark omits (as also does Matthew) a number of events 
 for our knowledge of which we are dependent on John. These 
 include two visits to Jerusalem, at the time of the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles, and again at the time of the Feast of Dedication (John 
 vii. 14, x. 22) ; the retreat beyond Jordan ' into the place where 
 John was at the first baptizing' (John x. 40) ; the visit to Bethany 
 and the raising of Lazarus (John xi. 1-46) ; the counsel of Caiaphas 
 and the withdrawal to Ephraim (John xi. 47-54). 
 
 1. arose from thence. It was the Lord's final departure from 
 Galilee. Jerusalem was now his goal, but his way took him first 
 to the borders of Judaea and into Peraea. The Fourth Gospel, as 
 we have seen, indicates that before the raising of Lazarus and his 
 final journey to Jerusalem he went into the parts beyond Jordan 
 and did miracles there (John x. 40-42). Multitudes still kept by 
 him, and he taught them. 
 
 2. came xinto him Pharisees. That is, certain members of 
 that class, quick to try him again with entangling questions as he 
 began again to teach publicly. 
 
 put away his wife. Jesus had already declared himself on 
 the subject of divorce, but before a different audience (Matt. v. 31, 
 32). These Pharisees put their question 'tempting him,' for a 
 negative reply might bring him into conflict with the Mosaic Law. 
 It might also be turned to account against him with Antipas. 
 
 3. What did Moses command yon? Jesus turns the point of 
 their question by appealing at once to the authority which they 
 recognized. 
 
 4. bill of divorcement : see Deut. xxiv. 1-4. The Deutero- 
 nomic statement of the grounds on which an act of divorce might 
 proceed was differently interpreted by the Rabbis, the school of 
 Shammai and the school of Hillel being sharply divided on the 
 subject. The Pharisees here say nothing of the reasons to justify 
 an act of divorcement, but refer only to the clause in the Law 
 allowing it. 
 
 5. For your hardness of heart he wrote you this com- 
 
ST. MARK 10. 6-n 243 
 
 nicnt. But from the beginning of the creation, Male 6 
 and female made he them. For this cause shall a man 7 
 leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his 
 wife ; and the twain shall become one flesh : so that 8 
 they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore 9 
 God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 
 And in the house the disciples asked him again of 10 
 this matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall 1 1 
 put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery 
 
 mandment. It is not meant that the Mosaic Law enjoined 
 divorce or encouraged it, but only that it permitted it and controlled 
 it. The ' commandment' here is the regulation referred to, and its 
 object was to check abuse and protect the wife. The Deuteronomic 
 Law did no more than permit divorce, and that for a particular 
 reason — the moral condition of the people it had to deal with — the 
 * hardness of their hearts.' 
 
 6. But from the beginning 1 of the creation. The permissive 
 ordinance of the Mosaic Law was also only provisional and 
 temporary. Divorce was not contemplated in the original relation 
 of man and woman. 
 
 8. the twain shall become one flesh. The creation of man, 
 male and female, is the ground for the common life of the marriage 
 union, and that life makes husband and wife in such sense one that 
 every other relation, even the filial, must yield to it. The words 
 attributed to the first man in the O. T. record of creation (Gen. 
 ii. 24) are here made his own by the Son of man. In Matthew 
 they are given to the Creator himself (xix. 4-6). Cf. also 
 1 Cor. vi. 16 ; Eph. v. 31. 
 
 10. in the house. The house which was the home of the 
 disciples for the time. Where it was is not stated. Some take 
 them to have been at this time at Ephraim, the city mentioned by 
 John (xi. 54), which is thought by some to have been near Ophrah, 
 not far from Bethel, and to be the same as the modern Taiyibeh, some 
 twenty Roman miles north-east of Jerusalem. Others suppose them 
 to have been somewhere in Peraea. Matthew continues the state- 
 ment on divorce as if the whole had been addressed to the 
 Pharisees. Mark gives the particulars more fully, and records the 
 fact that Jesus was again interrogated on the subject, but now by 
 the disciples themselves when they had returned to their house. 
 
 11. Whosoever shall put away. The statement is given 
 absolutely here, as if divorce could in no case be followed lawfully 
 by another marriage union. But in Matt. v. 32 and again in xix. 9 
 one important qualification of the absoluteness of the declaration 
 
 R 2 
 
244 ST. MARK 10. 12-14 
 
 12 against her : and if she herself shall put away her husband, 
 and marry another, she committeth adultery. 
 
 13 And they brought unto him little children, that he 
 should touch them : and the disciples rebuked them. 
 
 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, 
 
 is given. One offence, but only one, is mentioned as justifying 
 divorce, and when divorce proceeds on that ground the marriage 
 of the man who puts away his wife is not unlawful. That is the 
 natural inference from the words. Yet many Roman Catholic 
 divines and not a few Anglicans affirm that, so long as the divorced 
 wife is alive, however guilty she may have been, the husband 
 cannot marry again. 
 
 12. if she herself shall put away her husband. The wife's 
 right to divorce the husband was not recognized among the Jews. 
 Cases like those of Michal (1 Sam. xxv. 44) and Herodias (Matt, 
 xiv. 3, &c.^ were exceptional. Josephus states that while the 
 husband might put away the wife and give her a bill of divorce- 
 ment, it was not lawful for a wife who voluntarily departed from 
 her husband to be married to another, unless her former husband 
 renounced her \Antiq. xv. vii. 10). But among the Greeks and 
 Romans the wife had the right of divorce, and Jesus concludes his 
 statement by a reference to the heathen custom. This was the 
 more appropriate because the disciples had been so recently in 
 heathen circles. 
 
 x. 13-16. Incident of the blessing of children : cf. Matt. xix. 13-15 ; 
 Luke xviii. 15-17. Each of the three narratives has something 
 distinctive. 
 
 13. little children. The word used by Mark is applicable to 
 children of twelve years of age (Mark v. 39, 42) and to infants eight 
 days old (Gen. xvii. 12). Luke uses a word more definitely 
 applicable to babes and very young children (Luke xviii. 15 ; cf. 
 Luke ii. 12, 16; 2 Tim. iii. 15). The children, therefore, were of 
 different ages, babes in arms and little ones somewhat grown, but 
 yet young enough to need the mother's care. 
 
 touch them. Matthew puts it ' that he should lay his hands on 
 them, and pray ' (xix. 13"). The touch, with reference to the power 
 they believed to be in him (cf. the case of the woman with the issue 
 of blood) ; the laying on of hands, with reference to the benediction 
 which the ruler of a synagogue was wont to pronounce. Cf. the 
 case of Israel blessing Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. xlviii. 14). 
 
 rebuked them : in mistaken concern for the Master's dignity 
 or ease. 
 
 14. moved with indignation. Wrath together with grief is 
 ascribed to Jesus in Mark iii. 5. This is the only occasion on 
 
ST. MARK 10. 15-17 ?45 
 
 and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come 
 unto me ; forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom 
 of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not 15 
 receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall 
 in no wise enter therein. And he took them in his 16 
 arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them. 
 And as he was going forth into the way, there ran 17 
 
 which the expressive word selected here for indignation is used of 
 him. It is the word that describes the indignation or sore dis- 
 pleasure of the chief priests and scribes when the children in the 
 Temple cried, Hosanna to the son of David (Matt. xxi. 15). It was 
 a disappointment that kindled strong feeling to see his mind so 
 misunderstood and his gracious work hindered, and that by the 
 very men he had been instructing so patiently. 
 
 suffer . . . forbid them not. The charter of the children's 
 rights. Words of infinite grace to all parents, but spoken to the 
 mistaken disciples in tones that at once arrested them. ' We hear 
 the Lord's indignant call, as it* startles the disciples in the act of 
 dismissing the party ' (Swete). 
 
 of such is the kingdom of God. The graces of innocence, 
 simplicity, trustfulness, tenderness, docility, affection seen in 
 children are the very qualities that make the moral condition for 
 entrance into the kingdom. They that have them cannot be 
 forbidden, for they belong to the kingdom. 
 
 15. Verily. With these great words regarding children and the 
 children's spirit Jesus concludes the instructions which had begun 
 with the question of the sacredness of the wedded life. He sets 
 his seal on them by his solemn formula — ' Verily I say unto you.' 
 But he has one thing yet to do before he lets these little ones go. 
 
 16. he took them in his arms. This is noticed only by Mark. 
 Already Jesus had selected one little child and had taken him up 
 in his arms (ix. 36). Now at the end of this discourse he repeats 
 the act on a larger scale, lifting each of these little ones (we may 
 infer), as they were brought one after another to him, up into his 
 arms. He brings the incident to an end by pronouncing over them 
 his benediction with the laying on of hands. Luke omits this. 
 Matthew records the laying on of hands, but not the loving 
 embrace. 
 
 x. 17-22. The incident of the Rich Young Man. Cf. Matt. xix. 
 16-22 ; Luke xviii. 18-23. 
 
 17. into the way: or, as in margin, 'on his way.' This 
 interesting incident took place just as Jesus was resuming his 
 journey. 
 
246 ST. MARK 10. 18, 19 
 
 one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good 
 Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? 
 
 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good ? 
 
 19 none is good save one, even God. Thou knowest the 
 
 ran one to him. From Matthew we learn that he was 
 young, the term 'young man' being one, however, that might 
 cover any age from earliest manhood to middle life (xix. 22) ; 
 and from Luke that he was a ' ruler,' a person of position, 
 perhaps one of the rulers of the synagogue (xviii. 18). All three 
 Gospels notice his wealth. Mark alone mentions that he 'ran' 
 to Jesus, so eager was he. 
 
 kneeled to him : another fact shewing his earnestness and 
 his sense of the dignity of this new teacher, noticed only by Mark. 
 
 Good Master : that is, 'Teacher.' The young man recognized 
 Jesus as a great Rabbi, one of eminent character, and he saluted 
 him reverently as such, as pupils were accustomed to do homage 
 to distinguished teachers. But he had no higher idea of what 
 Jesus was. 
 
 inherit eternal life: this great phrase 'eternal life' occurs 
 first in Daniel (xii. 2), and there as a contrast to ' eternal ' or 
 ' everlasting ' ' contempt.' It was familiar to the Jews, especially 
 to the scribes and Pharisees. It had become a frequent subject 
 of discussion, and in connexion with it many questions, some of 
 them serious and others more theoretical, had arisen. In Luke 
 (x. 25) we have the question which is put here by an earnest 
 inquirer put in a very different spirit by a lawyer. The question 
 and the answer are given in substantially the same form in Mark 
 and in Luke. They appear somewhat differently in Matthew. 
 There, according to the best reading, the question is, ' What good 
 thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life ? ' and the answer 
 is — ' Why askest thou me concerning that which is good ? One 
 there is who is good ' (xix. 17). 
 
 18. Why callest thou me good ? The young man's sincerity 
 and earnestness we have no reason to doubt. But his ideas were 
 superficial. It is to correct these, not to disclaim his own moral 
 perfection or to make himself simplv a man, one of the ordinary, 
 erring children of humanity, that Jesus replies in these terms. 
 The ruler had no proper conception of what ' eternal life/ as 
 Jesus conceived it, was ; and his notion of goodness was inadequate. 
 Jesus throws the inquirer back upon himself by apparently 
 disowning the title ' good ' as it was thus easily applied to him, 
 pointing the speaker to goodness as seen in God, and bringing 
 him to the test of the Divine law. 
 
 19. Thou kiiowest the commandments. As he is referred. 
 
ST. MARK 10. 20, 21 247 
 
 commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, 
 Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, 
 Honour thy father and mother. And he said unto him, 20 
 Master, all these things have I observed from my youth. 
 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto 21 
 him, One thing thou lackest : go, sell whatsoever thou 
 
 with a view to a worthier conception of goodness, to God in whom 
 alone it exists in its perfection, so he is referred further to the 
 commandments, in which, and most especially according to the 
 ideas of a Jew, the mind of God is seen. The order in which 
 the commandments are cited, according to Mark and Luke, is 
 this — the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, fifth ; according to 
 Matthew, it is the seventh, sixth, eighth, ninth, fifth. The 
 question is what is meant by the one in the series which is 
 expressed as ' do not defraud,' that is, ' do not take from others 
 what is theirs. 1 It may sum up the four precepts mentioned 
 before it, as some suppose ; but it is rather a form of the ninth 
 commandment. Some think it is a free quotation from Exod. 
 xxi. 10 ; Deut. xxiv. 14. The mention of the commandments would 
 come as a welcome surprise to the young man. He had thought 
 probably that something more was needed than that observance of 
 the Law which he had studied, and which he could say he had 
 fulfilled in his own literal and formal way. 
 
 20. all these thing's have I observed from my youth. Jesus 
 recites only the commandments dealing with our relations to our 
 fellow men. Our fulfilment of the open and unmistakable duties 
 to which these have regard is the test of the sincerity and reality 
 of our observance of those duties toward God which lie more 
 within the cover of our own hearts and are open to mistake by 
 ourselves as well as by others. In naming those precepts of the 
 second table Jesus takes the suitable way of approach to a mind 
 which, while open and honest, does not rise beyond the external 
 aspects of things. 
 
 21. looking- upon him loved him. Compare the look turned 
 on Simon (John i. 42), and on Peter in his denial (Luke xxii. 61). 
 These particulars are recorded only by Mark, but they go to the 
 heart of the matter. Jesus, turning his searching look on the 
 young man, saw in his frank and earnest face the witness to the 
 fact that he was an honest and anxious, though mistaken, inquirer 
 after life, and he regarded him with affectionate, yearning interest 
 as he brought him to the further test. Great Rabbis, we are told, 
 were in the Lit of kissing the heads of pupils of brilliant parts. 
 
 One thl g thou lackest. The young man had not got 
 beyond the 'Unary Jewish ideas of an external, circumstantial 
 
248 ST. MARK 10. 22-24 
 
 hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure 
 
 22 in heaven: and come, follow me. But his countenance 
 fell at the saying, and he went away sorrowful : for he 
 was one that had great possessions. 
 
 23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his 
 disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter 
 
 24 into the kingdom of God ! And the disciples were 
 amazed at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and 
 
 observance of the Law. The requirement now made of him 
 brought him face to face with the question of self-denial, and so 
 with the inwardness of the Law, the deeper meaning of ' eternal 
 life' and the 'good,' and what it cost to win the former and 
 achieve the latter. 
 
 follow me : this is the final test, and one that would make 
 him know himself better. 
 
 22. his countenance fell. The word rendered ' fell ' is one 
 that means ' clouded over.' It is used of the lowering sky (Matt. 
 xvi. 3). It expresses the darkening or saddening of the face under 
 the influence of gloomy thoughts, and in particular under the 
 sense of grief or sudden disappointment. ■# 
 
 went away sorrowful. He had thought of securing eternal 
 life by doing, and had thought less of being. He discovered that 
 there was a doing that was far beyond him, a fulfilment of the 
 Law that meant inward conditions of the spirit, not outward 
 conditions of the letter, and had its evidence in readiness to give 
 up what was dear. His easy notions of righteousness and 
 goodness, of eternal life, and the keeping of the commandments, 
 were dissipated, his hopes were shattered, and he turned away 
 not angry, but grieved and disappointed. He was unable then to 
 pay the price of true discipleship, and of his future course nothing 
 is told us. We are left to surmise that one whom Jesus loved 
 while he tested him may have afterwards entered the Kingdom. 
 
 x. 23-27. Discourse on Riches and the Kingdom of God. Cf. 
 Matt. xix. 23-26 ; Luke xviii. 24-27. 
 
 23. looked round about. This is noticed only by Mark. The 
 look which had been turned lovingl3 7 and searchingly on the young 
 man is now cast round about the circle of the Twelve. Cf. iii. 5. 
 
 riches. The word used here is one of wider scope than that 
 used in verse 22, and includes all kinds of possessions, in money- 
 goods, or anything else. 
 
 24. amazed. This, too, is given only by Mark. t is a strong 
 term expressing the consternation into which these 1 ;>rds of Jesus 
 threw even his most select followers. The rich ! * /ere not they 
 
ST. MARK 10. 25-27 249 
 
 saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that 
 trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! It is 25 
 easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for 
 a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And 26 
 they were astonished exceedingly, saying unto him, Then 
 who can be saved ? Jesus looking upon them saith, With 2 7 
 
 the privileged ? How different this Kingdom must be from what 
 they anticipated — a Kingdom open to men who were like little 
 children, and not to the great and wealthy ! 
 
 Jesus answereth again. He repeats his staggering declara- 
 tion, notwithstanding their amazement. But in doing so he 
 qualifies its hardness somewhat both by the terms of his address 
 and by a distinction which he now makes. ' Children,' he says, an 
 affectionate and considerate designation, used with direct refer- 
 ence to the Twelve only in this passage, and indicating his 
 sympathy with them and his regard for them in their present 
 perplexity. So in the solemn words uttered later, when the 
 traitor had gone out, he addresses them as ' little children ' 
 (John xiii. 33). And instead of the hardness of an entrance 
 into the Kingdom of God for those who l have riches/ he now 
 speaks of the hardness besetting those who ' trust in riches.' So 
 far the saying is softened and simplified. Yet in the next breath 
 he gives it again in the most absolute form. 
 
 25. for a camel to go through a needle's eye. A strong 
 hyperbolical expression, which is to be taken precisely as it is. 
 Some have thought it necessary to reduce its seeming exaggeration 
 by turning the camel into a cable (these two words being some- 
 what similar in the Greek), or by taking the needle's eye to be the 
 name of a small side-gate near the great gate at Jerusalem. This 
 is wholly to miss the point of the statement. The Jewish Rabbis 
 were accustomed to use such extreme, paradoxical comparisons. 
 This one is meant to express in the strongest possible form the 
 incongruity of placing wealth or position on the same plane with 
 the Kingdom of God, the utter impossibility of having riches 
 accepted as a qualification for that Kingdom, and the difficulty 
 which the rich have beyond others in entering it. 
 
 26. astonished exceedingly. Their amazement is intensified 
 by these further words of Jesus, which seem to raise the difficulty 
 of an entrance into the Kingdom, even in the case of the privileged, 
 to the height of impossibility. They were quite beside themselves 
 with astonishment. No doubt their old Jewish ideas clung to 
 them, which connected prosperity with righteousness, and made 
 it natural for them to think of those who manifestly were favoured 
 by God in outward things as meant by Him to have His Kingdom. 
 
250 ST. MARK 10. 28, 29 
 
 men it is impossible, but not with God : for all things 
 
 28 are possible with God. Peter began to say unto him, Lo, 
 
 29 we have left all, and have followed thee. Jesus said, 
 Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left 
 house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or 
 
 27. all thing's are possible with. God. Jesus accepts the 
 construction put upon his words by the disciples in their conster- 
 nation, but at the same time provides the needed relief. Impossible 
 it indeed is to establish a claim to the Kingdom of God. But the 
 impossibility is only on man's side. With God it is otherwise. 
 He can make the impossible actual, and accomplish by grace what 
 rank or privilege or human effort cannot effect. In the Divine 
 power which He gives in lieu of human incapacity is the ground 
 of man's hope of a place in the Kingdom. 
 
 x. 28-31. The Reward of Disciples hip. Cf. Matt. xix. 27-30 ; 
 Luke xviii. 28-30. 
 
 28. Peter began to say unto him. All three Synoptists 
 agree in naming Peter as the spokesman here. He breaks in and 
 utters, as was his wont, what was in his mind. But our Lord's 
 reply shews that the rest of the Twelve had the same thoughts. 
 
 we have left all. The emphasis is on the ' we ' — ' we your 
 Apostles here.' Peter's interruption was suggested no doubt by 
 the case of the rich young man. ' We at least have done,' he 
 meant to say, ' what the ruler has not done. And what is to 
 come to us for so doing V It is only Matthew who records the 
 blunt claim for tangible reward — ' what then shall we have ? ' 
 
 29. Verily I say unto you. The reply of Jesus is directed 
 not to Peter in particular, but to all the Twelve. Matthew gives 
 it more fully than Mark or Luke. These two record only what 
 applies to all followers of the Lord. Matthew reports first what 
 was meant specially for the Twelve themselves — the promise of 
 a share in the prerogative of judgement in ' the regeneration ' 
 when ' the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory.' 
 
 left house, or brethren. The instances of renunciation men- 
 tioned by Jesus are suggested by the case immediately before 
 him. These Apostles for whom Peter spoke had indeed left 
 home, and relations (as was done, e. g. by James and John), and 
 possessions (some leaving their boats and nets, others, e. g. Levi, 
 their occupations of a different kind which brought income with 
 them). Luke omits the 'lands.' and inserts 'wife.' At this time 
 (though not for ever, as we see from 1 Cor. ix. 5) Peter had 
 also made this last sacrifice. It is to be noticed that nothing is 
 yet said of giving up life. 
 
ST. MARK 10. 30, 31 251 
 
 children, or lands for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, 
 but he shall 't-ceive a hundredfold now in this time, 30 
 houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and 
 children, and lands, with persecutions ; and in the world 
 to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be 31 
 last ; and the last first. 
 
 30. lie shall receive a hundredfold. So also in Matthew, 
 but in Luke it is ' manifold more.' In its terms this promise 
 resembles the descriptions of the blessings of the Messianic 
 kingdom which were familiar to the Jews of our Lord's time, and 
 are found in their non-canonical literature. It is expressed as if 
 the reward was to be given in kind — houses for houses, relations for 
 relations, possessions for possessions, but in more liberal measure. 
 It is expressed at the same time in terms so large as at once to 
 suggest something beyond that — a return in kind and yet different, 
 inward good for outward, spiritual relationships and possessions 
 for natural connexions and material substance, rewards, in short, in 
 the form of the blessings belonging to the new Messianic kingdom. 
 
 now in this time. He who gives up other things in order to 
 follow Christ has his reward even here and now — a present reward 
 which brings a gain not to be put in comparison with what is 
 surrendered ; though it is qualified now by ' persecutions' as Mark, 
 and only he, is careful to add. 
 
 and in the world to come. That is, in the age that follows 
 Christ's Second Advent, the new condition of things which is to 
 be inaugurated \>y that decisive event and in which the kingdom 
 is to have its consummation. In that age there is a further reward 
 for the follower of Jesus, and one no more qualified by * persecu- 
 tions.' That final reward is 'eternal life' — a phrase conveying the 
 Israelite's hope from the time of the prophecy of Daniel onwards, 
 and into which Jesus infused a higher and more spiritual meaning. 
 
 31. first shall he last. This closing declaration is omitted 
 by Luke on the present occasion. He gives it. however, in his 
 account of our Lord's reply to the question — 'Are there few that 
 be saved ? ' (xiii. 30}. Matthew gives it again in his report of 
 the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (xx. 16), which he 
 introduces immediately after the present incident. That parable 
 and the declaration on the subject of the ' first ' and the ' last ' 
 convey the lessons that the rewards of the kingdom of the Messiah 
 and of Christian discipleship are not given on the ground of priority 
 in time, or calculable service, or man's ideas of merit, but on the 
 ground of inward conditions, and the wise and just counsel of 
 God to whom all hearts are open. 
 
252 ST. MARK 10. 32, 33 
 
 3 2 And they were in the way, going up to Jerusalem ; and 
 Jesus was going before them : and they were amazed ; 
 and they that followed were afraid. And he took again 
 the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were 
 
 •V> to happen unto him, saying, Behold, wc go up to Jeru- 
 salem ; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the 
 
 x. 32-34. Further announcement of the. Passion and the Resur- 
 rection. Cf. Matt. xx. 17-19; Luke xviii. 31-34. Mark's narrative 
 is peculiarly vivid and impressive here. It deals with this occasion 
 as one of critical moment, and enables us to realize, as the other 
 Gospels do not do in like measure, the bearing of the Master and 
 the feelings of the disciples. 
 
 32. they were in the way. It was when he 'was going forth 
 into the way' that Jesus was arrested by the ruler's question. 
 With the Twelve he is now l in the way,' his journey being- 
 resumed and his course directed to Jerusalem. The ' way ' no 
 doubt was the open highway that was followed by the usual 
 bands of pilgrims at the stated seasons of ascent to the Holy City. 
 
 going 1 up. Jerusalem was so placed that to reach it from 
 any point meant literally a ' going up.' 
 
 going* before them. Only Mark notices this, and he evidently 
 attaches exceptional significance to it. Jesus parted for a time 
 from the immediate companionship of the Twelve, and contrary 
 to his habit moved on before them. 
 
 they were amazed. The action was unusual. But there 
 was not enough in that to account for this amazement. There 
 must have been something in the way in which Jesus went before 
 them, in the solemn deliberateness of his action, the resolved 
 attitude he assumed, the impression of brooding thoughts conveyed 
 by his demeanour, that awed the Twelve with the sense of the 
 fatefulness of this movement towards Jerusalem. Cf. Luke ix. 51. 
 
 they that followed were afraid. Others also who were in 
 the company, the people who were accustomed to keep by him, 
 were affected as the Twelve themselves were. Forebodings of 
 evil smote them and filled them with vague terrors. 
 
 took again the twelve. This is noticed by each of the three 
 Synoptists. Matthew states explicitly that Jesus took them apart. 
 Seeing how the Twelve were moved by the change in him he 
 joins them again, and takes them by themselves in order to explain 
 his action and declare to them what was in his mind. 
 
 33. the Son of man shall be delivered. This is the third 
 announcement of his Passion that he makes to the unwilling ears 
 of the Twelve, and it is remarkable for its distinct and circum- 
 stantial character. It makes mention of the betrayal into the 
 
ST. MARK 10. 34,35 253 
 
 chief priests and the scribes ; and they shall condemn 
 him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles : 
 and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon him, and 34 
 shall scourge him, and shall kill him ; and after three 
 days he shall rise again. 
 
 And there come near unto him James and John, the 35 
 sons of Zebedee, saying unto him, Master, we would that 
 
 hands of the Jewish authorities, the members of the Sanhedrin 
 or Council, who dealt with cases coming under the Jewish law ; 
 the condemnation by that court ; the subsequent delivery to the 
 Gentiles, that is, to the Roman authorities, who reserved to them- 
 selves the right of ordering the penalty of death ; and the circum- 
 stances attending the sentence and the punishment — the mockery, 
 the contumelious spitting, the scourging (which always accom- 
 panied crucifixion;, and the death itself. The betrayal to the 
 chief priests and scribes is noticed by Matthew and Mark ; the 
 delivery to the Gentiles, which was not referred to in the former 
 announcements, the mocking, and the scourging, are recorded 
 by all three ; the spitting is mentioned only by Mark and Luke. 
 Matthew alone specifies crucifixion as the mode of death. All 
 three give the intimation of the Resurrection. Luke introduces 
 a reference to O. T. prophecy — ' All the things that are written 
 by the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man.' 
 From Luke we also gather that, notwithstanding its definiteness 
 and the remarkable circumstances in which it was spoken, this 
 third prediction of the Passion and Resurrection of their Master 
 was as little understood by the Twelve as were the former two. 
 The ' saj'ing was hid from them, and they perceived not the 
 things that were said' (xviii. 34). 
 
 x. 35-45. The Ambitious Request of the Sons of Zebedee. Cf. 
 Matt. xx. 20-28. This incident is omitted by Luke, who gives, 
 however, in a later chapter, the story of the contention among the 
 disciples as to who should be greatest (xxii. 25-28). There is this 
 difference also between the narratives of Matthew and Mark 
 here, that in the former the petitioner is the mother (whom we 
 know to be Salome by comparing Mark xv. 40 with Matt, xxvii. 
 56), while in the latter the sons themselves make the request. 
 The mother's solicitude for the honour of her sons made her the 
 first speaker. The application probably was her thought, but 
 the sons joined in it and expressed their own sense of what they 
 considered themselves entitled to look for. 
 
 35. the sons of Zebedee. The only occasion on which Zebedee 
 is brought very directly before us in the Gospels is when his sons 
 
254 ST. MARK 10. 36-38 
 
 thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of thee. 
 
 36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do 
 
 37 for you ? And they said unto him, Grant unto us that 
 we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left 
 
 38 hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know 
 
 were called by Jesus. Thereafter the Gospels; are silent regarding 
 him, or refer to him only as here. It is possible that he may not 
 have lived long after James and John left him to become followers 
 of Jesus. It has been suggested that, unlike Salome, he had 
 taken no interest in the claims and the ministry of Jesus, and 
 for that reason is little noticed in the Gospels. Where all is 
 matter of conjecture, it is more reasonable to suppose that, like 
 his sons, he had been a disciple of the Baptist and had recognized 
 Jesus as the Messiah. The fact that nothing is said as to his 
 opposing the departure of James and John when they were called 
 so far favours this supposition. But all is left uncertain by the 
 Gospels themselves. 
 
 we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we 
 shall ask of thee. A large, bold, inconsiderate demand, that 
 comes so strangely after Jesus has spoken of scourging and death 
 as his own lot, and betrays how little the Twelve, and even the 
 select three, yet understood what it meant to be followers of 
 Jesus, or what his kingdom was. 
 
 36. What would ye that I should do for you? He will have 
 them first state distinctly what is in their hearts before he will 
 commit himself to their large request. 
 
 3*7. Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, 
 and one on thy left hand, in thy glory. They think only of 
 grandeur and glory as associated with his kingdom, and will have 
 the places of highest honour in it, the 'right hand' of the host or 
 the monarch being the position reserved for the most distinguished 
 guest or dignitary, and the 'left hand' the position next in 
 honour ; cf. 2 Sam. xvi. 6 ; 1 Kings ii. 19 ; Acts vii. 55, 56 ; 
 Rom. viii. 34. The presenting of such a request may have been 
 suggested by the words of Jesus on the subject of reward — the 
 hundredfold that was to be received now by any one who had 
 left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, 
 or lands, for his sake and the gospel's (x. 30). 
 
 38. Jesus said unto them. In Matthew's Gospel the petitioner 
 is the mother. If there were four women at the cross, and if 
 Salome, the mother of James and John, is the person meant by 
 ' his mother's sister ' in John's narrative of the crucifixion (xix. 
 25), she was connected by ties of blood with Jesus, and may have 
 found in that her encouragement to take her sons with her to 
 
ST MARK 10. 39,40 255 
 
 not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that 
 I drink ? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am 
 baptized with ? And they said unto him, We are able. 39 
 And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall 
 drink ; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal 
 shall ye be baptized : but to sit on my right hand or on 40 
 my left hand is not mine to give : but it is for them for 
 
 him and make her application in their interest. But even in 
 Matthew's Gospel it is to the sons themselves, not simply to 
 the mother who spoke for them, that Jesus addresses his reply. 
 
 Ye know not what ye ask : the reply touched first their lack 
 of understanding. 
 
 Are ye able to drink the cnp that I drink ? It then brought 
 them to the question of their capacity for fellowship with him in 
 suffering. The term ' cup ' is a frequent figure both in the O. T. 
 and in the N. T., and is used in different applications. It occurs 
 as a figure of speech : (1) for the happy lot or experience of the 
 godly, the idea being that that comes from God as the wine-cup 
 at table comes from the host (e. g. Ps. xvi. 5, xxiii. 5, Ixxiii. 10) ; 
 (2) for the unhappy lot of the wicked (e. g. Ps. xi. 6) ; (3) for the 
 Divine wrath (e. g. Jer. xxv. 15 ; Ezek. xxiii. 32-34 ; Isa. li. 17 ; 
 Zech. xii. 2 ; Rev. xiv. 10) ; ^4) for the experience of salvation, 
 the reference being to the wine of the thank-offering (Ps. cxvi. 
 13) ; (5) for consolation, the wine offered for refreshment to the 
 mourner probably being in view (Jer. xvi. 7). 
 
 or to be baptized with the baptism. Another figure for 
 suffering, overwhelming suffering in which one is immersed or 
 submerged. Jesus uses it again of his sufferings when he speaks 
 of being come to ' cast fire upon the earth ' (Luke xii. 49). It is 
 akin to one of the most frequent figures of the O. T., especially 
 of the Book of Psalms— that which speaks of one who is in dire 
 peril or affliction as being in deep waters (Ps. xviii. 16, xlii. 7, 
 lxix. 1, cxxiv. 4, cxxx. i). 
 
 39. We are able. Their answer betrayed again their lack of 
 discernment. They were capable of much. They could be loyal 
 and they could be courageous. But as yet their ideas of things 
 were so unspiritual and confused that they did not even under- 
 stand the capacity he had in view, much less did they possess it. 
 But they were to learn it by the surest of all teachers — sharp 
 experience. 
 
 40. is not mine to give. There was a difference between 
 drinking of the cup and sitting on the right hand of the Great 
 King. Fellowship with Jesus in the former they were to have,. 
 
256 ST. MARK 10. 41,42 
 
 41 whom it hath been prepared. And when the ten heard 
 
 it, they began to be moved with indignation concerning 
 
 4«j James and John. And Jesus called them to him, and 
 
 and it needed not to be given them. It would come of itself in 
 their conflict with an evil world. But fellowship with him in 
 glory demanded conditions of which they had no understanding, 
 and was not a thing to be given by disposition simply, not even 
 at the bidding of the Son of man. Throughout the N. T. Jesus 
 is declared by himself, as well as by his Apostles, to be the final 
 Arbiter who is to give to every man his due ^Matt. xxv. 31-46 ; 
 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 12). But in this he acts not arbitrarily 
 or without regard to the Father's will. It is the Father who has 
 committed to him the power of judgement, and it is the Father's 
 will that he fulfils in that as in everything else (John v. 22, 27). 
 
 for whom it hath "been prepared. That is, by God. In 
 Matthew it is expressly put so — ' for whom it hath been prepared 
 of my Father' (xx. 23). Here our Lord brings us within sight 
 of the great principle of a Divine election or predestination, which 
 is expressed at length in the Epistles to the Romans (viii. 33- 
 39, ix. 6-33) and Ephesians (i. 4-12), in 1 Peter (i. 2), and else- 
 where. As Christ's word here indicates, this 'preparation ' and the 
 choice or determination which it implies are no arbitrary decisions, 
 but the wise and gracious dispositions of the Father. And they 
 for whom the things here in view are prepared are them- 
 selves also prepared for them. For the use of the term in its 
 various applications see such passages as Matt. xxv. 34, 41 ; Luke 
 ii. 31 ; Rom. ix. 23 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; Eph. h. 10 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21 ; Heb. 
 xi. 16. 
 
 41. when the ten heard it. The ' ten,' it is to be observed, 
 not the ' nine.' In this matter Peter went not with his comrades 
 in the select band of the three, but with the other members of 
 the Apostolate. Whether the ten knew of the selfish and 
 exclusive request of James and John by hearing it as it was made, 
 or by having it reported to them, is not told. In any case when 
 it came to their knowledge their indignation was kindled, and 
 with it doubtless those evil feelings of jealousy and self-assertion 
 
 I which Jesus had already had to check and correct (ix. 33-37). 
 
 42. called them to him. He had again to deal with the 
 whole company of the Apostles, and not merely with two 
 individuals. He does so deliberately and pointedly, summoning 
 them to him for the purpose. Bent on putting them right he 
 takes the wise and considerate way of calling their attention to 
 the broad principles at issue, and makes no reference to the fault 
 of James and John. 
 
ST. MARK 10. 43-45 257 
 
 saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted 
 to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them j and their 
 great ones exercise authority over them. But it is not so 43 
 among you : but whosoever would become great among 
 you, shall be your minister : and whosoever would be 44 
 first among you, shall be servant of all. For verily the 45 
 Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
 minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 
 
 43. it is not so among yon. If they were to be in his 
 kingdom, their ideas must be different from those that prevailed 
 in heathen society and characterized heathen ways of life. Among 
 the Gentiles it was the accepted order of things that those in 
 power should rule according to their will, and dispense their good 
 things and their evil things arbitrarily. But in him they had a 
 Master of another kind, and in his kingdom a society of a radically 
 different order — a society to which ambition, and honours arbitrarily 
 bestowed, dignities won by competition and self-assertion, were 
 entirely strange, and in which only one pre-eminence was known 
 — that of humility and service. 
 
 45. For verily the Son of man came not to be ministered unto 
 (or, served), "but to minister (or, serve). That greatness in his 
 kingdom was so unlike what it was in the Gentile world, and 
 that the thoughts of his disciples must be so essentially different 
 from those of others, is made clearer and more certain by an appeal 
 to his own example, and to that as the highest possible enforce- 
 ment. The Son of man himself, who was of men and yet more 
 than they, had come for a great purpose. But that was to serve, 
 not to be served. 
 
 and to give his life. Not only to serve, but to do so to the 
 last degree of self-sacrifice. 
 
 a ransom. The word expresses deliverance by paying a 
 price, or the price paid for deliverance. It is used, e.g. for the 
 price paid for the redemption of a slave (Lev. xix. 20) or a captive 
 (Isa. xliv. 13) ; the ransom paid for a life (Exod. xxi. 30, xxx. 12 ; 
 Num. xxxv. 31). The word occurs frequently in the O. T. In 
 the N. T. this is the only instance of it in this particular form. 
 But we find it again in a compound form in 1 Tim. ii. 6, where 
 also it is applied to Christ himself as the sacrifice. 
 
 for many. One life for the lives of many, and ' for ' them in 
 the sense of ' instead of them.' The preposition used by our Lord 
 is one that in its most proper sense conveys the idea of exchange 
 or substitution. It means ' in place of,' and occurs in such sentences 
 as these— 'an eye for an eye/ i a tooth for a tooth ' (Matt. v. 38) ; 
 
258 ST. MARK 10. 46 
 
 46 And they come to Jericho : and as he went out from 
 
 i for a fish ... a serpent ' ( Luke xi. 1 1) ; < Archelaus was reigning 
 over Judaea in the room of his father Herod' (Matt. ii. 22); 
 ' render to no man evil for evil ' (Rom. xii. I7) ; ' Esau, who for one 
 mess of meat sold his own birthright' (Heb. xii. 16). The life 
 that is spoken of here, therefore, is a life which it was Christ's 
 to give, and he was to give it, he tells us, in the character of 
 a ransom for the lives of many — a ransom, further, which was to 
 take the place of or to be given instead of those others. The 
 word ' for,' following on the word ' ransom ' here, ' can only be 
 understood,' says Meyer, ' in the sense of substitution in the act 
 of which the ransom is presented as an equivalent to secure the 
 deliverance of those on whose behalf it is paid — a view which is only 
 confirmed by the fact that in other parts of the N. T. this ransom 
 is usually spoken of as an expiatory sacrifice, Matt. xxvi. 28 ; John 
 i. 29; 1 John iv. 10; Rom. iii. 25 ; Isa. liii. 10; 1 Pet. i. 18 ff., iii. 18.' 
 This great declaration was made incidentally, not for doctrinal 
 or dogmatic purposes, but with a purely practical object — the 
 checking of unworthy, selfish feeling in the disciples and the illus- 
 tration of what greatness is in the kingdom of God. Yet it is 
 impossible to over-estimate its importance or to fathom all that it 
 means with regard to the nature and scope of Christ's mission. It 
 is one of the select number of sayings which give us an insight 
 into his own view of his life and death. It is fundamental to any 
 just conception of the purpose and the efficacy of his death. It 
 contains the principles of that doctrine of sacrifice and atone- 
 ment which is taught in the Epistles of the N. T., and which has 
 been stated and developed in the Creeds of the Church. 
 
 x. 46-52. The Restoration of blind Bartimmts. Cf. Matt. xx. 
 29-34 ; Luke xviii. 35-43. In connexion with this incident, im- 
 mediately after it, Luke introduces the case of Zacchaeus, which 
 is given neither by Matthew nor by Mark. In the three Synoptical 
 accounts of this instance of the healing of the blind there are also 
 certain minor differences in the details of time, place, and person. 
 
 46. And they come to Jericho. It is not stated whence they 
 came. It may have been the ' city called Ephraim ' (John xi. 54), 
 the secluded place about sixteen miles from Jerusalem, to which 
 he retired after the raising of Lazarus and the counsel taken by 
 the chief priests and Pharisees consequent on that great work. 
 ' By publicly entering Jericho he places himself in the power of 
 the Procurator and the great Sanhedrin ' (Swete). On previous 
 occasions, in going up to Jerusalem or returning from it, Jesus 
 must have passed by or through this city. But there is no record 
 of these approaches or visits. With the present occasion it is 
 different ; for it marks an important stage in his ministr3 T . With 
 
ST. MARK 10. 46 259 
 
 Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son 
 
 the exception of the reference to it in the Parable of the Good 
 Samaritan (Luke x. 30ft".), it is only in connexion with this narra- 
 tive that mention is made of Jericho in the Gospels. It is noticed 
 also in Heb. xi. 30. 
 
 and as he went out from Jericho. Both Matthew and 
 Mark report the miracle as if it was done as Jesus left the city. 
 Luke gives it as if it was done when he drew near to the city. If 
 Jesus came by the direct road from Ephraim he would 'enter 
 through a gate on the north side of the city, and in order to 
 proceed to Jerusalem he would cross to the west gate ' (Swete). 
 
 The ancient Jericho, the famous ' city of palm-trees ' (Deut. 
 xxxiv. 3), in the Jordan valley, over against Nebo (Deut. xxxii. 
 49), lay some sixty stadia or ' furlongs ' west of the river, and 
 about 150 from Jerusalem. It is represented by the modern 
 er-Riha, a cluster of wretched hovels containing about 300 
 inhabitants, and lying some goo feet below the level of the 
 Mediterranean. Its glory is utterly gone, and of its great palm- 
 groves there remains only a tree here and there— perhaps a dozen 
 in all. The old Canaanitish city seems to have occupied a site 
 about a mile and a half or two miles from er-Riha, at Tell-es-Sultan, 
 above Elisha's fountain. That it was a rich town in ancient 
 times appears from the story of Achan (Josh. vii. 21). It is 
 associated with many notable passages in the story of Israel, e. g. 
 the first observance of the Passover after the crossing of the 
 Jordan (Josh. v. 10) ; the vision of the captain of the Lord's host 
 (Josh. v. 13-15) ; the first stand made against the children of 
 Israel, the siege, the destruction of the city, and the saving of 
 Rahab for the spies' sake (Josh, vi) ; and later, the translation 
 of Elijah (2 Kings ii. 4) ; the capture of Zedekiah when he fled 
 from Jerusalem and the forces of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxv. 
 5 ; Jer. xxxix. 5), &c. A solemn curse was uttered by Joshua 
 on the man who should rebuild it (Josh. vi. 28), which was fulfilled 
 in the case of Hiel the Bethelite in Ahab's time (1 Kings xvi. 34). 
 In our Lord's time it had become again an important place, enjoy- 
 ing the favour of the Herodian family. The fact that it lay on 
 the caravan route from Damascus, and occupied a strong military 
 position, made it a place of great consequence. It was also one 
 of the chief residences of priests. After the capture of Jerusalem 
 by Pompey, it was made one of the five seats of assembly by 
 Gabinius the Roman general (Joseph. Wars, i. viii. 5). Herod 
 the Great fortified a citadel above the town, and built to the north 
 of it a city which he called Phasselis after a brother (Joseph. 
 Wars, i. xxi. 9). In Jericho also Herod died. The royal palace 
 was burnt down after his death, but was splendidly rebuilt by 
 Archelaus. Our Lord's baptism took place not far from it, and 
 
 S 2 
 
260 ST. MARK 10. 47-49 
 
 of Timaeus, Bartimseus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the 
 
 47 way side. And when he heard that it was Jesus of 
 Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son 
 
 48 of David, have mercy on me. And many rebuked him, 
 that he should hold his peace : but he cried out the more 
 a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 
 
 49 And Jesus stood still, and said, Call ye him. And they 
 
 Quarantania, the probable scene of his temptation, was also near 
 it. Josephus speaks in glowing terms of its climate, its fountain, 
 its well-watered and fertile plains, its gardens full of trees, 
 yielding balsam and myrobalsamum, its palms of different kinds, 
 its luxuriant vegetation (Wars, iv. viii. a-3). 
 
 with Ms disciples and a great multitude. Jesus entered 
 the ci,ty and left it now not as an unknown visitor, but in the style 
 of a great Rabbi attended by his pupils, and followed by a crowd 
 of curious spectators made larger than usual by the number of 
 pilgrims from many different quarters who met here on their way 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 the son of Timaeus. This is a translation for the sake of 
 Gentile readers of the Aramaic name Bartimceus. 
 
 a blind beggar. Two blind men were there, according 
 to Matthew (xx. 30). Mark and Luke, for some reason left 
 unexplained, refer only to one, the former by name, the latter 
 in general terms. Beggars abounded in the ancient East, and 
 gathered in large numbers at the times of the great feasts at 
 the chief points along the pilgrimage routes. In many cases 
 blindness, that fell and frequent malady of the East, added to the 
 misery of utter poverty. 
 
 47. when he heard that it was Jesus. Luke tells us that 
 the blind man heard the noise of the multitude passing and 
 inquired what it meant (xviii. 36). Thus he learned from others 
 what he could not discover for himself, that it was Jesus passing 
 by, and instantly he besought his mercy. Perhaps he had heard 
 of the cure of the blind man at Jerusalem (John ix), or of some 
 similar case among the healing deeds of Jesus. 
 
 son of David. A Judaean title of Messiah, found already 
 on the lips of the multitude who witnessed the miracle on the 
 possessed man who was both blind and dumb (Matt. xii. 23). The 
 present is its only occurrence in Mark's Gospel, and in Luke 
 also it appears only in the narrative of this miracle. 
 
 48. rebuked him. Many would have had him silenced. But 
 he became only the more urgent as the opportunity seemed to 
 be slipping. 
 
ST. MARK 10. 50—H. 1 261 
 
 call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good cheer : 
 rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, 50 
 sprang up, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered him, 51 
 and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? 
 And the blind man said unto him, Rabboni, that I may 
 receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; 52 
 thy faith hath made thee whole. And straightway he 
 received his sight, and followed him in the way. 
 
 And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem, unto 11 
 
 49. Jesus stood still. The piteous appeal could not be with- 
 stood. There is a pause in the movement ; the suppliant is 
 called by the command of Jesus, and the word of encouragement, 
 ' Be of good cheer,' is spoken to him by those who knew what 
 the Master's call meant. 
 
 50. he, casting* away his garment, sprang up. This is 
 noticed only by Mark. How it adds to the impressiveness of 
 the scene, and to the picture of an insistent, anxious eagerness 
 that could not tarry ! 
 
 51. What wilt thou that I should do unto thee. All three 
 Evangelists notice the question with which Jesus prefaced the 
 healing act. 
 
 Rabboni. An Aramaic word for Master or Lord; which 
 came also to the lips of Mary when in her dead sorrow she 
 suddenly recognized her risen Lord (John xx. 16). 
 
 52. Jesus said unto him. According to Matthew Jesus 
 touched the eyes of the two blind men. But according to Mark 
 and Luke the restoration of the one sufferer whose case they 
 notice was effected simply by the sovereign word. All three 
 Evangelists notice that this miracle, one of the last done by Jesus, 
 was wrought on the ground of faith in the subject, 
 
 followed him in the way. The healed man at once joined 
 the company and went with them on their way to Jerusalem. 
 
 xi. i-n. Public entry into Jerusalem and visit to the Temple. 
 Cf. Matt. xxi. 1-11 ; Luke xix. 29-45 ; John xii. 1, 12-19. There 
 is considerable difficulty here as to the order of events, and as to 
 the time and circumstances of the entry into the city. The 
 miracle at Jericho was followed probably by the incident of 
 Zacchaeus, and the parable of the Pounds. But the question 
 is as to the point at which the supper at Bethany took place, and 
 the exact date of the arrival of Jesus at that village. According 
 to Tohn xii. 1 he came to Bethany six da}-s before the Passover. 
 
262 ST. MARK 11. i 
 
 Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he 
 
 These six days, however, may be computed in different ways, and 
 hence the date is variously fixed. Most, however, conclude that he 
 arrived at Bethany on Friday the eighth Nisan, and that he rested 
 at the village. The statements in Matthew (xxi. i) and Mark 
 (xi. i) might seem to imply that he went on direct to Jerusalem. 
 But this does not necessarily follow from their accounts, and it 
 would be inconsistent with John's record. But when did the 
 supper and the anointing at Bethany take place ? Matthew and 
 Mark do not introduce their reports of these incidents till later 
 (Matt. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv. 3-9). But John brings it in before 
 the Triumphal Entry, and this is accepted by most as the actual 
 order. If this is right, it will appear that the first two Gospels 
 postpone their accounts of the supper; that Jesus came to 
 Bethany on the Friday, on the eve of the Jewish sabbath ; that 
 he spent the last sabbath before his crucifixion in quiet in the 
 home of his friends there ; and that he made his entry into 
 Jerusalem on the following day — the traditional Palm Sunday. 
 
 1. And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem. It appears that 
 they came direct from Jericho to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. 
 Mark, however, does not say distinctly that they went on to 
 Jerusalem. He notices simply that they came to the villages near 
 it. The distance from Jericho to these villages was about fifteen 
 miles, and it lay through a wild and dreary country, the scene 
 of the parable of the Good Samaritan, associated with danger and 
 difficulty. Rest would be welcome after such a journey, and 
 opportunity would be needed by Jesus to prepare himself in 
 privacy and quiet for the painful events of the next week. 
 
 unto Bethphage: a village bearing a name which means 
 probably 'the house of figs.' It is never mentioned in the O. T., 
 and cannot be identified. All trace of it has disappeared, and all 
 is uncertain about it. Some take it to have been a village over 
 against Bethany, as is suggested by the Synoptical records. 
 Others think it was a district rather than a hamlet — an ' ecclesi- 
 astical suburb of Jerusalem.' See Andrews, The Life of our Lord, 
 p. 430. 
 
 and Bethany. Matthew refers only to Bethphage. Mark 
 and Luke mention both Bethphage and Bethany. 
 
 Bethany: a village lying on the slope of the mount of 
 Olives, fifteen furlongs, or a little less than two miles, from 
 Jerusalem (John xi. 1, 18, xii. 1). Its name is of uncertain etymo- 
 logy, being supposed by some to mean 'a. low place,' by others 
 1 house of dates.' In it was the house of Simon the leper. It was 
 also the home of Lazarus and his sisters, and the resting-place 
 of Jesus on his way to and from the great feasts in Jerusalem. 
 It is never mentioned in the O. T. Since the fourth century its 
 
ST. MARK 11. 2 263 
 
 sendeth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go 2 
 
 site has been identified with that of the village known as El- 
 Azariyeh, 'the place of Lazarus,' a cluster of some twenty houses 
 inhabited by Bedouin Arabs. Dean Stanley speaks of it as ' a 
 wild mountain hamlet, screened by an intervening ridge from 
 the view of the top of Olivet, perched on its broken plateau of 
 rock, the last collection of human habitations before the desert 
 hills which reach to Jericho' {Sinai and Palestine, p. 186). On 
 the basis of an ancient tradition the people point out the tomb 
 of Lazarus, but in a most unlikely place, which is described as 
 •a wretched cavern in the limestone rock, like a cellar with 
 about twenty-five steps, to which we descend by the dim light 
 of a taper ' ^Schaff, Bible Lands, p. 27). 
 
 the mount of Olives. In the O. T. we read of ' the mount ' 
 Neh. viii. 15"), 'the mount that is before Jerusalem' (1 Kings xi. 
 7), ' the mountain which is on the east side of the city ' i^Ezek. xi. 
 23), 'the mount of corruption' or 'destruction ' (2 Kings xxiii. 13), 
 ' the ascent of mount Olivet ' (A. V.) or ' the ascent of the mount 
 of Olives' (R.V., 2 Sam. ::v. 30). The particular form 'the 
 mount of Olives' in the O. T. occurs only in Zech. xiv. 4. In 
 the N. T., on the other hand, this is the usual name, although it 
 is occasionally given with some small variations (^Luke xix. 29, 
 xxi. 37 ; Acts i. 12). The whole ridge of limestone hills lying on 
 the east of Jerusalem, and separated from it by the valley of the 
 Kidron, seems to have been spoken of as ' the mount of Olives.' 
 More properly the name is given to the middle of the three 
 chief eminences of that ridge, the one on the north being known 
 as mount Scopus, and the other on the south as the mount of 
 Offence (see Robinson, Biblical Researches, i. 274). The ' mount ' 
 rises to the height of about 200 feet above the temple, and over 
 2,600 feet above the level of the Mediterranean. ' No name in 
 Scripture calls up associations,' says Dr. Porter, ' at once so 
 sacred and so pleasing as that of Olivet. The "mount" is so 
 intimately connected with the private life of our Lord, that we 
 read of it and look at it with feelings of deepest interest and 
 affection. Here he sat with his disciples, telling them of the 
 wondrous events yet to come ; of the destruction of the Holy 
 City, of the sufferings, the persecutions, the formal triumph of 
 his followers.' Dean Stanley speaks of ' the vision, too great 
 for words, which it offers to the Christian traveller of all times, 
 as the most detailed and the most authentic abiding place of Jesus 
 Christ' {Sinai and Palestine, p. 189). 
 
 sendeth two of his disciples. John's narrative defines 
 the time when the young ass was found more particularly as 
 'the morrow' after his arrival at Bethany (xii. 1, 12, 14). The 
 two disciples are left unnamed. It is suggested with some reason 
 
264 ST. MARK 11. 3-5 
 
 your way into the village that is over against you : and 
 straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, 
 whereon no man ever yet sat ; loose him, and bring him. 
 
 3 And if any one say unto you, Why do ye this ? say ye, 
 The Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will 
 
 4 send him back hither. And they went away, and found 
 a colt tied at the door without in the open street ; and 
 
 5 they loose him. And certain of them that stood there 
 
 that Peter was one of them, the account given by Mark here point- 
 ing to the recollections of one who had been present on the 
 occasion. 
 
 2. the village that is over against you. Probably Beth- 
 phage, especially as it is the only village noticed by Matthew 
 (xxi. 1). 
 
 a colt. To a Greek this would mean a young horse ; to 
 a Jew, a young ass (cf. Gen. xxxii. 15, 10, xxix. 11 ; Judges x. 4, 
 xii. 14, and especially Zech. ix. 9). Matthew quotes the passage 
 in Zechariah, and finds its fulfilment in the present event. John 
 also quotes the prophecy, with some modificatron of its terms 
 (xii. 15). Matthew speaks of an ass and a colt, that is, the colt 
 with his mother. 
 
 whereon no man ever yet sat. An unbroken colt, as was 
 appropriate in the case of one meant for a sacred service. See 
 the provisions in the Mosaic Law (Num. xix. 2 ; Deut. xxi. 3). 
 Everything was foreseen by Jesus, the presence of the colt, the 
 precise place where he should be found, the fact that he was 
 tied, and even the ready compliance of those in charge ; and all 
 happened exactly as he had said. 
 
 3. and straightway he will send him back hither. In 
 Matthew it is ' and straightway he will send them, 1 with reference 
 to the man's readiness to send the animals. Mark's words, accord- 
 ing to the R. V., express the undertaking that the colt will not 
 be kept longer than is required, but will be returned. 
 
 4. in the open street. This is better than the rendering of 
 the A. V. — 'in a place where two ways met' The word means 
 1 the way round ' the house, and so the open street or lane. 
 
 5. certain of them that stood there. This might mean those 
 hanging about, as people were accustomed to do in idle hours 
 about the townships and lanes. But Luke speaks of the owners 
 as the persons who put the question to the two disciples. We 
 may reasonably suppose that those in whose hands the animal 
 was, and who required no other persuasion to let him go than the 
 
ST. MARK 11. 6-9 265 
 
 said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt ? And they 6 
 said unto them even as Jesus had said : and they let them 
 go. And they bring the colt unto Jesus, and cast on him 7 
 their garments ; and he sat upon him. And many spread 8 
 their garments upon the way ; and others branches, which 
 they had cut from the fields. And they that went before, 9 
 
 simple mention of the Lord's need, were themselves disciples. If 
 not, they must at least have known Jesus and his disciples 
 sufficiently well to make them at once trust them. 
 
 *7. cast on him their garments. An unused colt, not yet 
 separated from the mother, would not be provided with trappings. 
 The disciples put some of their own garments on the creature, 
 which would serve as a saddle. 
 
 he sat upon him. Jews who looked for Messiah and had 
 respect to the prophecy of Zechariah (ix. 9) expected that the 
 promised king would make his entry in this way into Jerusalem. 
 The ass, too, was the symbol of humility and peace, in contrast 
 with the horse which was the symbol of war. In seating himself 
 on the colt Jesus left behind him the time of silence or reserve, 
 and publicly affirmed his claim to be the Messiah. ' No act,' says 
 Dr. Geikie, ' could be more perfectly in keeping with the 
 conception of a king of Israel, and no words could express more 
 plainly that the king proclaimed himself the Messiah ' {The Life 
 and Words of Christ, ii. p. 395). 
 
 8. And many spread their garments upon the way. Others 
 followed the two— not the Twelve only, but many more who were 
 followers in different degrees of loyalty. The act was one of 
 homage such as was done to kings as they entered cities. See 
 the case of Jehu (2 Kings ix. 13). 
 
 others branches : or better, as in the margin of the R. V., 
 'layers of leaves.' The word is applicable to leafy twigs, long 
 grass, reeds, rushes, and the like. So the enthusiasm spread, and 
 took the form of carpeting the way for him with a litter of green 
 stuff. 
 
 which they had cut from the fields. The road from 
 Bethany to Jerusalem, winding as it did by cultivated fields and 
 gardens, or plantations of olives, palms, and various fruit trees, 
 would readily provide material which they could cut for the 
 purpose in view. 
 
 9. they that went before, and they that followed. John tells 
 us that ' a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they 
 heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of the 
 palm trees, and went forth to meet him ' (xii. 12, 13). It appears, 
 therefore, that Jesus was in the centre of two great streams of 
 
266 ST. MARK 11. 10 
 
 and they that followed, cried, Hosanna ; Blessed is he 
 10 that cometh in the name of the Lord : Blessed is the 
 kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David : 
 Hosanna in the highest. 
 
 acclaiming and expectant people— one that came from the villages 
 on the mount of Olives, and another that came now to meet him 
 from the sacred city itself. 
 
 Hosanna. In Matthew it is ' Hosanna to the son of David ' 
 (xxi. 9). This is properly speaking a prayer, and the invocation was 
 made not once, but repeatedly, as the verb implies. It is the i save 
 now,' of Psalm cxviii — a Psalm long and closely associated with 
 the national hope of Israel, and written to celebrate some great 
 occasion in the national history, the dedication of the Second 
 Temple in 516 b.c, or the Passover following that event (Ezra vi. 
 15, &c), or the Feast of Tabernacles reported in Nehemiah viii, or, 
 as some think, the triumph of Judas Maccabaeus and his purification 
 of the temple in 165 b.c. (r Mace. iv. 37-59). During the period 
 of the Second Temple, the twenty-fifth verse of this Psalm formed 
 ' the festal cry with which the altar of burnt-offering was com- 
 passed in solemn procession, once on each of the first six days of 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, and seven times on the seventh day. This 
 seventh day was called " the Great Hosanna " {Hosanna Rabba), 
 and not only the prayers of the Feast of Tabernacles, but even 
 the branches of willow and myrtle bound up with palm-branch 
 (Lulab) were called Hosannas'' (Delitzsch). 
 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 
 From Ps. cxviii. 26. Luke gives ' Blessed is the king that 
 cometh,' thus making the Messianic reference more definite. In 
 the Psalm the sentence is a word of greeting to the pilgrim who 
 comes to the temple at the feast. Here it is a greeting addressed 
 to Jesus as the promised king, and it is possible that a Messianic 
 interpretation or application had been given before this to the 
 Psalm, or to this part of it. Luke also adds the words ' peace in 
 heaven, and glory in the highest ' (xix. 38). 
 
 10. Blessed is the kingdom that cometh. An expansion 
 of the words of the Psalm, recognizing that in the entry of Jesus 
 on the colt into Jerusalem the kingdom that was promised to 
 come was being inaugurated. And this 'kingdom' is called 'the 
 kingdom of our father David,' as it is the fulfilment of that regal, 
 Divine order of things of which David's kingdom was a type. 
 
 Hosanna in the highest. Cf. the angels' song (Luke ii. 14). 
 
 A prayer for salvation or blessing in the highest heaven where 
 
 I God reigns. The salvation is conceived of as prepared or re- 
 
 j served there, and as descending thence upon the new kingdom. 
 
ST. MARK 11. 11-13 267 
 
 And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and 11 
 when he had looked round about upon all things, it 
 being now eventide, he went out unto Bethany with the 
 twelve. 
 
 And on the morrow, when they were come out from 12 
 Bethany, he hungered. And seeing a fig tree afar off 13 
 having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything 
 
 Matthew records the impression made by the event. He tells 
 us that ' all the city was stirred ' (xxi. 10). When he adds that 
 the people asked, ' Who is this ? ' he indicates that little interest 
 had been taken by the mass of the citizens of Jerusalem in the 
 reports of the work of Jesus. Luke completes the picture of this 
 great passage in our Lord's ministry by introducing the incidents 
 of the remonstrance of the Pharisees, the tears of Jesus as 
 he saw the city, and his lamentation over its impending doom 
 (xix. 39-44)- 
 
 11. into the temple. Passing into the city he moved on at 
 once to the place which gave it all its significance. By the 
 1 temple ' here is meant not the shrine itself, the ' house of God ' 
 proper (Matt. xii. 4), but the precincts of the temple, the sacred 
 enclosure. He would enter by the eastern gate and come into 
 the court of the Gentiles. The traffic which desecrated the place, 
 incongruous as it was, had not penetrated into the sanctuary 
 itself, but was carried on in the outer courts. 
 
 looked round about. As it was late he did no more than 
 this, but withdrew to Bethany. He cast a keen, searching, 
 sorrowful glance around, which took in the whole scene and 
 prepared him for the action of the morrow. In Matthew the 
 account of the cleansing of the temple follows immediately on 
 that of the entry into the city. Mark's account is the most exact 
 and circumstantial. 
 
 xi. 12-14. The Barren Fig-tree: cf. Matt. xvi. 18, 19. This 
 incident is left unnoticed by Luke. It is reported by Matthew 
 and Mark in the same connexion. 
 
 12. on the morrow. That is, Monday, 11 Nisan (John xii. 
 
 I, 1-,. 
 
 he hungered. He had eaten nothing, we infer, and the 
 labours and anxieties of the day were before him. He had the 
 desire to satisfy his hunger, and thought the opportunity of doing 
 so was offered by the appearance of a solitary fig-tree, which he 
 saw at a distance by the roadside. 
 
 13. having leaves. The sight of the tree in leaf suggested that 
 
268 ST. MARK 11. 14,15 
 
 thereon : and when he came to it, he found nothing but 
 
 J 4 leaves ; for it was not the season of figs. And he 
 
 answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee 
 
 henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it. 
 
 x 5 And they come to Jerusalem : and he entered into the 
 
 there might be fruit on it. For, in the case of the fig-tree, the 
 leaf succeeds the fruit. 
 
 nothing but leaves. On approaching the tree he discovered 
 that it was abnormally in foliage, and that nothing but leaves was 
 on it. 
 
 for it was not the season of fig's. An explanation of the 
 fact that no fruit was found on the tree. In Palestine, figs are 
 gathered late in May, or more usually in June. But it was yet only 
 about the season of the Passover, which was from late March to 
 the middle of April. The point here is the association of leaf and 
 fruit. It is possible, indeed (though it can scarcely be said to be 
 more than that), that some figs of the previous year might be left 
 hanging on the tree through the winter. But the possibility of 
 such remnants of a previous crop being found on the tree is not 
 limited to the case of trees in leaf. What is in view here is the fact 
 that where the green foliage is seen there fruit is to be expected. 
 But in this case no fruit of any kind, ripe or unripe, was discovered. 
 A fig-tree in leaf unless its appearance was a deception, should 
 have fruit on it, green fruit at least, if not mature. But this tree 
 had nothing except leaves. It belied its profession, and this was 
 its condemnation. So Jesus made it an object-lesson by which he 
 might convey to the minds of his disciples a serious idea of the 
 moral attitude of the Jewish people, and the doom involved in 
 a religion of pretension and barrenness. 
 
 14. No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. In 
 the parable of the Fig-tree Jesus had already dealt with the 
 matter of unfruitfulness (Luke xiii. 6-9). Here he speaks of an 
 unfruitfulness which is aggravated by vain, deceptive profession. 
 The fault which he found with the tree was that it failed to make 
 good in any way the promise which it displayed to the eye. The 
 sentence which he pronounced upon it was with a view to the 
 moral instruction of his disciples, and the warning of the Jewish 
 nation. Mark alone notices the fact that ' the disciples heard it.' 
 
 xi. 15-19. The Purging of the Temple : cf. Matt. xxi. 12-17 ; 
 Luke xix. 45-48. The Fourth Gospel also reports a cleansing 
 of the temple (John ii. 13-17), but places it at the beginning of 
 the ministry of Jesus. The three Synoptical Gospels agree in 
 recording a purgation of the temple at the close of his ministry. 
 The acts were similar, yet there are certain differences in the 
 
ST. MARK 11. 16 269 
 
 temple, and began to cast out them that sold and them 
 that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables 
 of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold 
 the doves ; and he would not suffer that any man should 16 
 
 details as well as in the times. Nor is there anything incongruous 
 or unreasonable in the supposition that Jesus may have asserted 
 the holiness of his Father's house, and given token of the 
 necessity of a radical change in the religion of the Jews by 
 a solemn and authoritative act of this kind, both at the outset of 
 his ministry and at its close. The difference in the plans of the 
 Gospel narratives accounts for the difference between the S3 7 nop- 
 tists and John in this matter. 
 
 15. he entered into the temple. His purpose was to do what 
 his brief inspection on the previous evening shewed him to be 
 necessary. Things had settled into the old, profane ways in 
 spite of the impression made by the previous cleansing. The evil 
 traffic was again in full swing, and had become even worse than 
 before. He repeated, therefore, his act of condemnation and 
 expulsion, and did it with still greater thoroughness and authority. 
 
 cast out them that sold and them that bought. Sellers 
 and buyers were alike dead to the sense of what the temple was, 
 and were equally involved in his condemnation. The market in 
 question had been allowed a place within the temple precincts on 
 the plea of public convenience. It dealt only with things required 
 for the temple services, victims for the various offerings, wine, 
 oil, salt, and the like, and it had the sanction of the chief priests. 
 It saved pilgrims the trouble of bringing the various requirements 
 with them from their distant homes, and enabled all to obtain on the 
 spot what they needed for sacred use. But it had become the 
 subject of great abuse. The sordid, mercenary spirit turned all 
 to desecration, profanity, greed, and fraud. 
 
 tables of the money-changers. Every Jew had to pay 
 a tax of a half-shekel annually for the support of the temple, and 
 it had to be paid in Jewish money (Matt. xvii. 24 ; Exod. xxx. 13, 
 &c). Pilgrims who brought Gentile money had to get Jewish 
 coin for it. The money-changers reaped large profits by their 
 transactions at the time of the great festivals. They were 
 allowed to charge a sum of from a third to a fourth of a denarius 
 for each half-shekel exchanged. 
 
 them that sold the doves. It was provided by the Levitical 
 law that doves might be offered on the occasion of the purification 
 of women, in the case of those who were unable to purchase lambs 
 (Lev. xii. 8 ; cf. Luke ii. 22). Doves were also the offerings 
 prescribed in some other cases, such as the cleansing of lepers, 
 &c. (Lev. xiv. 22, xv. 14, 29). 
 
270 ST. MARK 11. 17, 18 
 
 17 carry a vessel through the temple. And he taught, and 
 said unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be 
 called a house of prayer for all the nations ? but ye have 
 
 18 made it a den of robbers. And the chief priests and the 
 scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him : 
 
 16. carry a vessel through the temple. This, too, is 
 peculiar to Mark. The word ' vessel ' here is applicable to any 
 kind of implement or any article of household use — pots, tools, 
 and the like. People had got into the habit of taking a short cut 
 through the precincts of the temple, and had made a business 
 thoroughfare of the sacred enclosure. This had been forbidden 
 by the Jewish authorities. But the prohibition had fallen into 
 neglect, and Jesus enforces it anew. 
 
 17. taught. The crowds hanging about him there, so deeply 
 moved by what he did in the temple, gave him an opportunit}' 
 not to be neglected. The great subject of his instructions, as the 
 next words shew, was the Divine purpose of the temple, and the 
 way in which it had been perverted. 
 
 a house of prayer for all the nations. The quotation is 
 from Isa. lvi. 7. The law provided for the presentation of offerings 
 in the temple on the part of ' strangers ' in Israel (Lev. xvii. 8, 
 &c, xxii. 18, &c. ; Num. xv. 14, &c). The prophecy in Isaiah 
 spoke of such strangers — those ' that join themselves to the Lord, 
 to minister unto Him ' — as being brought along with the chosen 
 people from exile to God's f holy mountain ' ; as made joyful in His 
 ' house of prayer ' ; and as laying their offerings and sacrifices 
 with acceptance on his altar. Mark alone introduces this mention 
 of the heathen nations, appropriate as it is to a discourse which 
 has its occasion in a desecration proceeding in the court of the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 ye have made it a den of robbers. Better than the ' den of 
 thieves' of the A.V. This sentence takes us back to the words of 
 another prophet — Jeremiah (vii. 11). Two great evils attended the 
 traffic which the Jewish authorities had allowed. The temple had 
 been turned from its proper purpose as a house of prayer. The 
 chaffering of traders, the noiseof thesacrificialbeasts, the din of men 
 tramping through the sacred place with their vessels, made prayer 
 incongruous or impracticable in the very place set apart for the 
 use of the Gentiles. But there was a second evil and a worse. 
 The secularity had turned into dishonesty. The place of worship 
 had become a place of robbery, in which greedy and unscrupulous 
 traders enriched themselves at the cost of those who came to offer 
 their oblations to God. 
 
 18. chief priests and the scribes. In John's Gospel two 
 
ST. MARK 11. 19 271 
 
 for they feared him, for all the multitude was astonished 
 at his teaching. 
 
 And every evening he went forth out of the city. 10 
 
 previous instances of a combination between the chief priests and 
 the scribes are noticed (vii. 32, &c, xi. 47, 57); this is the first 
 occasion of the kind mentioned in the Synoptical Gospels. Luke 
 adds 'the chief of the people,' that is, prominent representatives, 
 probably the elders (xix. 47). All classes, therefore — the pro- 
 fessional orders and the general body of the people in the person 
 of their outstanding men — now went hand in hand, contriving how- 
 to get rid of Jesus. 
 
 they feared him. The difficulty was how they could effect 
 their end. They saw that he had still multitudes of the common 
 people with him, and that the}' continued under the spell of his 
 teaching. This made them afraid to interfere with him openly. 
 
 19. out of the city. Matthew is more explicit, and tells us it 
 was to Bethany. It was our Lord's habit, therefore, during these 
 fateful days, to spend his active hours in the city, and when he 
 could no longer teach, to retire to the quiet hamlet on the uplands. 
 
 Matthew adds some interesting particulars. He mentions how 
 the blind and the lame came to Jesus after the cleansing, and were 
 healed by him — the only instances of healing works done within 
 the temple. He also tells us how the children (perhaps members 
 of the temple choir, as has been suggested), caught by the general 
 enthusiasm, took up the Hosannas which they had heard the 
 previous day, and re-echoed them ; that the chief priests and 
 scribes were ' moved with indignation ' at this ; and how Jesus 
 rebuked their mistaken displeasure by the testimony of the eighth 
 Psalm (xxi. 14-16). 
 
 This narrative, it will now be seen, differs from that in John 
 (ii. 13-17) in not a few points. It does so in respect of time and 
 historical connexion. The incident it reports belongs to the close 
 of the ministry, and is related to the triumphant entry ; whereas the 
 occurrence recorded by John belongs to the outset of the ministry, 
 and is placed in relation to the marriage in Cana of Galilee and 
 the visit to Capernaum. There are differences also in the par- 
 ticulars. The scourge of small cords appears in John's narrative, 
 but not in that of the Synoptists. The prohibition regarding the 
 carrying of vessels through the temple appears in Mark, but not 
 in John. In the Fourth Gospel the Father's house is described as 
 having been made a house of merchandize ; in the Second Gospel 
 the charge is a heavier one — 'ye have made it a den of robbers.'' 
 In John's Gospel the purgation ends with nothing more serious 
 than a challenge to Jesus to give proof of his authority ; in the 
 Synoptical Gospels it excites the spirit of murderous enmity, and 
 
272 ST. MARK 11. 20-23 
 
 20 And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the 
 
 31 fig tree withered away from the roots. And Peter calling 
 
 to remembrance saith unto him, Rabbi, behold, the fig 
 
 22 tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus 
 
 23 answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Verily 
 I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 
 Be thou taken up and cast into the sea ; and shall not 
 
 is followed by vengeful co-operation on the part of the pro- 
 fessional classes and the heads of the people. There is good 
 reason, therefore, to say that the narratives refer to two distinct 
 events, similar in character and significance, but each with its 
 special appropriateness in its own connexion. 
 
 xi. 20-25. The Withering of the Fig-tree. Cf. Matt. xxi. 19-22. 
 
 20. as they passed by in the morning-. As we gather from 
 Matthew (xxi. 19), the tree was not private property, but planted, 
 as was often the case, by the side of the public road, and in 
 a position where any one could see it. 
 
 they saw the fig" tree withered away. What a change ! 
 A change, too, of a kind which they could not fail to notice. 
 Yesterday the tree attracted attention by its unwonted foliage, so 
 fresh and green and abundant. To-day it draws wondering eyes 
 upon it by its shrivelled, blasted look. 
 
 from the roots. By morning, then, the blight had penetrated 
 it through and through, branch and root. Matthew speaks of the 
 tree as withering immediately after Jesus spoke 'the words, ' Let 
 there be no fruit from thee henceforward for ever. 1 And the 
 process of decay, which was complete by morning, may well have 
 set in then. 
 
 21. Peter calling 1 to remembrance. The words of Jesus 
 uttered the previous evening leaped at once into Peter's memory, 
 and in astonishment he called the attention of the Master to the 
 result. 
 
 22. Have faith in God. The answer might seem little to the 
 point. Yet it was a direct reply to the wonder expressed in 
 Peter's utterance. It referred him to faith and its possibilities as the 
 explanation. 
 
 23. Whosoever shall say unto this mountain. Jesus had 
 spoken in similar terms to his disciples on the occasion of their 
 failure at the foot of mount Hermon (Matt. xvii. 20 ; cf. also Luke 
 xvii. 6). This was a favourite figure of speech for things passing 
 ordinary capacity. Rabbis of exceptional influence were described 
 as removers or pi tickers up of mountains. 
 
ST. MARK 11. 24,25 273 
 
 •doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith 
 cometh to pass ; he shall have it. Therefore I say unto 24 
 you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe 
 that ye have received them, and ye shall have them. 
 And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have 25 
 aught against any one ; that your Father also which is in 
 heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 
 
 but shall believe. In the power of his faith in his Father 
 Jesus did his own works ; this strange and startling one no less 
 than others of a different kind which they had often witnessed. 
 The same trustful dependence on God would be for them the 
 source of a power which would make them capable of accomplishing 
 what was impossible to other men. 
 
 24. Therefore I say unto you. The fact that faith has such 
 power is his reason for proceeding to speak also of prayer. 
 
 All thing's whatsoever ye pray and ask for. Prayer, too, 
 will bring them power and make things clear to them. But prayer 
 without faith in God can have no efficacy. 
 
 25. whensoever ye stand praying". Kneeling or entire prostra- 
 tion was the form in which pra}'er was offered on occasions of 
 exceptional public importance or national trouble, as in the case, 
 e.g., of the dedication of the temple (1 Kings viii. 54), Ezra's 
 confession (Ezra ix. 5), Daniel's petitions in the face of the decree 
 vDan. vi. io\ our Lord's agony (Matt. xxvi. 30^, Stephen's death 
 (Acts vii. 50), Paul's prayer at Miletus and at Tyre (Acts xx. 36, 
 xx i. 5). But the ordinary posture seems to have been standing 
 (cf. i Kings viii. 14, 22 ; Neh. ix. 4 ; Jcr. xviii. 20; Ps. exxxiv. 1 ; 
 Malt. vi. 5; Luke xviii. 11, 13). 
 
 forgive. By another natural transition he passes on to 
 inculcate the forgiving spirit. For that is a second condition to 
 the efficacy of prayer, and it is Gcd's order that forgiveness on 
 His part is linked with forgiveness on our part. Of this Jesus 
 had already spoken when he unfolded the nature of prayer in the 
 Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vi. 14, 15). 
 
 your Father. The only occurrence of this highest name of 
 God in Mark. Our Lord had already made his disciples familiar 
 with it (Matt. vi. 12, 14, &c). 
 
 your trespasses. A word meaning literally ' lapses,' and so 
 misdeeds. 
 
 These declarations on faith, prayer, and forgiveness were 
 appropriate, as Meyer points out, 'to guard against a false 
 conclusion from the occurrence with the fig-tree.' The incident 
 itself has its explanation in its symbolical meaning. The lesson 
 
 T 
 
274 ST. MARK 11. 27-30 
 
 27 And they come again to Jerusalem : and as he was 
 walking in the temple, there come to him the chief 
 
 28 priests, and the scribes, and the elders; and they said 
 unto him, By what authority doest thou these things ? or 
 
 29 who gave thee this authority to do these things ? And 
 Jesus said unto them, I will ask of you one question, and 
 answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do 
 
 30 these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, 
 
 it was intended to teach was the same as that given in the parable 
 of the Fruitless Fig-tree (Luke xiii. 6-9). The fig-tree by the 
 roadside with its shew of leaves was a natural parable of the 
 religious condition of the Jewish people ; and the withering to 
 which it was condemned was an acted parable of the doom of 
 the nation. The tree was condemned, as Archbishop Trench 
 remarks, ' not for being without fruit, but for proclaiming by the 
 voice of those leaves that it had fruit ; not for being barren, but 
 for being false.' 
 
 Verse 26, inserted by the A. V., is omitted by the R. V. as of 
 doubtful documentary authority. 
 
 xi. 27-33. Challenge of the Authority of Jesus: cf. Matt. xxi. 
 23-27 ; Luke xx. 1-8. 
 
 27. walking 1 in the temple. The third visit, as it appears, 
 at this time. He was again probably in the court of the Gentiles, 
 perhaps in Solomon's porch (John x. 23). 
 
 the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders. All 
 the three classes now confederate approach him with a challenge. 
 The party included the custodians of the temple, who might 
 reasonably claim to know by what right Jesus asserted jurisdiction 
 where they were in charge, and interfered with customs which 
 they sanctioned. 
 
 28. By what authority. Their first demand was that he should 
 inform them of the kind of authority he had. 
 
 or who gave thee this authority to do these things ? Their 
 second and alternative demand was that he should tell them the 
 source of his authority. To do as he had done, overturning and 
 ejecting in the temple, surely required a sanction that could be 
 produced. 
 
 29. I will ask of you one question. Before he will say any- 
 thing about his own authority, he, too, has a matter to settle with 
 them. It is about John's authority to baptize as he did. 
 
 30. was it from heaven, or from men ? The question placed 
 them on the horns of a dilemma. If they said it was a Divine 
 authority, they exposed themselves to the retort that they had 
 
ST. MARK 11. 31—12. 1 275 
 
 or from men? answer me. And they reasoned with 3 x 
 themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven ; he will 
 say, Why then did ye not believe him ? But should we 3 2 
 say, From men — they feared the people : for all verily 
 held John to be a prophet. And they answered Jesus 33 
 and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto them, 
 Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 
 
 And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man 12 
 planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged 
 
 neglected or repudiated it. If they said it was a purely human 
 authority, they feared they would have the people against them ; 
 for the people held John to have been a prophet indeed. 
 
 33. We know not. They took refuge in a cowardly profession 
 of ignorance, and could not further press their own question. 
 
 xii. 1-12. The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen : cf. Matt, 
 xxi. 33-46 ; Luke xx. 9-19. 
 
 1. he begun to speak nnto them in parables. To this period 
 belong also the parables of the Two Sons, and the Marriage of the 
 King's Son, which are recorded only by Matthew (xxi. 28-32, 
 xxii. 1-14). Though silenced for the time, the Jewish authorities 
 did not quit the scene, and Jesus resumed his parabolic teaching, 
 giving it a new form specially addressed to those officials and 
 representatives of the people. Luke tells us that this parable of 
 the Wicked Husbandmen was spoken to the people themselves, 
 while Matthew and Mark state that it was directed to the official 
 classes in particular. 
 
 a vineyard. The foundation of the parable is the O. T. 
 figure of Israel as the Lord's vineyard, of which we have 
 instances both in the Psalms and in the Prophets (e. g. Ps. lxxx ; 
 Isa. v. 2, &c. ; Jcr. ii. 21) — a figure peculiarly appropriate in 
 a land in which the vine was tended with such care and yielded 
 such a return (Deut. xxviii. 8, &c). The passage in the fifth 
 chapter of Isaiah is most in view here. 
 
 set a hedge abont it. The ' hedge ' might be a hedge in our 
 sense of the word, a hedge of thorns. The prickly wild aloe is 
 said to be used for such purposes, and to make a very serviceable 
 defence (cf. Ps. lxxx. 12, 13 ; Song of Songs, ii. 15). Or it might 
 rather be a stone wall of a rough kind, such as may be seen in 
 Palestine to-day. Dean Stanley says that ' enclosures of loose 
 stone, like the walls of fields in Derbyshire or Westmoreland, 
 everywhere catch the eye on the bare slopes of Hebron, of 
 Bethlehem, and of Olivet' (Sinai and Palestine, p. 421). Thus 
 
 T 2 
 
276 ST. MARK 12. 2-6 
 
 a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out 
 
 2 to husbandmen, and went into another country. And at 
 the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he 
 might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the 
 
 3 vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and sent 
 
 4 him away empty. And again he sent unto them another 
 servant ; and him they wounded in the head, and handled 
 
 5 shamefully. And he sent another ; and him they killed : 
 
 6 and many others ; beating some, and killing some. He 
 had yet one, a beloved son : he sent him last unto them, 
 
 was the valuable possession to be protected against wild beasts, 
 boars, jackals, foxes, and the like (Ps. lxxx. 13 ; Num. xxii. 24 ; 
 Song of Songs, ii. 15 ; Neh. iv. 3), and against robbers. 
 
 digged a pit for the winepress. The grapes were placed 
 in a vat, in which they were trodden by the feet of the servants — 
 a joyous operation accompanied with song (Judges ix. 27 ; Isa. 
 lxiii. 2 ; Jer. xxv. 30). This was the ' press,' in most cases a 
 trough dug in the solid rock or in the earth, in which latter case 
 it was lined with masonry (cf. Num. xviii. 30; Prov. in. 10; 
 Isa. lxiii. 3; Lam. i. 15"). At a lower elevation was the 'pit,'' 
 a smaller cavity, also often excavated out of the rock, into which 
 the juice of the trodden grapes ran. 
 
 built a tower. For purposes of observation and defence, as 
 also for the shelter of the servants in charge, and for storage. So 
 everything was done that care could do, and the owner who, as 
 was often the case, let the vineyard to tenants, here called ' the 
 husbandmen.' was entitled to look at the end of the season for 
 his rent. That rent was paid in the form of a certain portion of 
 the fruits. 
 
 2. he sent to the husbandmen a servant. First one slave is 
 sent to gather the rent, then another, then many more ; but, 
 instead of receiving what was due to their master, they were 
 beaten, or wounded, or killed. In Matthew's version of the 
 parable the servants are sent in two successive bands. In this 
 Jesus doubtless had in view the treatment of the messengers of 
 God by those in power in the evil times of Jewish history, the 
 menaces levelled at Elijah by Jezebel, and at Elisha by Jehoram 
 (1 Kings xix. 2; 2 Kings vi. 31), the imprisonment of Micaiah 
 (r Kings xxii. 24-27), the prophets slain in Ahab's time (1 Kings 
 xviii. 13), the stoning of Zechariah by the order of Joash (2 Chron. 
 xxiv. 21), and the like. 
 
 6. He had yet one, a beloved son. Not a slave now, but one 
 
ST. MARK 12. 7-10 277 
 
 saying, They will reverence my son. But those husband- 7 
 men said among themselves, This is the heir ; come, let 
 us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they s 
 took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the 
 vineyard. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard 9 
 do ? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will 
 give the vineyard unto others. Have ye not read even 10 
 this scripture ; 
 
 of more account by far than man}' slaves. But when the husband- 
 men became aware that the son was coming, they took cruel counsel 
 one with another and decided to put him to death, thinking that 
 they might make the inheritance their own. This great title 'heir' 
 in the N.T. is the stated name for the adopted of God (e. g. Rom. 
 iv. 13, viii. 17 ; Gal. iii. 29, iv. 1, 7 ; Tit. iii. 7 ; Heb. vi. 17, xi. 17 ; 
 Jas. ii. 5 N . Christ is the ' heir' in the unique sense in which also 
 he is the* Son, 'the 'heir of all things,' made such by God (Heb. i. 2). 
 
 9. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do ? This is 
 the question to which the terms of the parable are meant to lead 
 up. Here it is put and answered by Jesus himself. In Matthew 
 those addressed are made to give the reply, which condemns them 
 out of their own mouth. In Luke those who hear betra\' their 
 consciousness of what Jesus meant by cr} T ing out, • God forbid.' 
 
 10. Have ye not read even this scripture? '■Even this 
 scripture ' : for the passage was a familiar and oft quoted one. It 
 is taken from Ps. cxviii, which, under the figure of a stone cast aside 
 by builders, but afterwards recovered and made the key-stone of 
 the fabric, speaks of Israel as set aside and despised bj r the world- 
 powers, but finally restored to the place of honour designed for it 
 by God among the nations. This Psalm appears to have received 
 a Messianic interpretation among the Jews. Here it is applied 
 by Jesus to himself, the true representative of Israel, rejected 
 indeed by the ruling classes of a perverted Judaism, but the elect 
 of God, appointed to be the head of a new Israel, the point of unity 
 of the people of God, both Jewish and Gentile. Ey ' the head of 
 the corner ' is meant not the cope-stone, but one of the stones set 
 in the corners of a building so as to bind the walls together — the 
 chief of these, the one laid with public ceremony. Peter makes 
 use more than once of the words thus doubly consecrated by the 
 Lord's application of them (Acts iv. it : 1 Pet. ii. 4~7 N . Paul also 
 introduces it more than once into his high argument (Rom. ix.32; 
 Kph. ii. 20 \ attaching it to the word of Isaiah (xxviii. 16). 
 
 The meaning of the parable could not be mistaken. In its clear 
 terms leaders and people both were shewn themselves in their 
 
278 ST. MARK 12. n-13 
 
 The stone which the builders rejected, 
 The same was made the head of the coiner : 
 
 11 This was from the Lord, 
 
 And it is marvellous in our eyes ? 
 
 12 And they sought to lay hold on him; and they feared 
 the multitude; for they perceived that he spake the 
 parable against them : and they left him, and went 
 away. 
 
 13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and 
 of the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. 
 
 privilege, their sin, and their doom ; in the grace given them b}' 
 God, their misuse of the gift, and their disregard of His prophets. 
 It was a prophecy of the judgement of God on them and their 
 nation for their final guilt — the rejection of the speaker himself, 
 their Messiah. 
 
 12. they sought to lay hold on him. A second time they 
 would fain have laid hands on him here and now, but dared not in 
 face of the s} r mpathy of the masses. 
 
 xii. 13-17. Questions by the Pharisees: cf. Matt. xxii. 15-22; 
 Luke xx. 20-26. 
 
 13. they send unto him. This refers to the chief priests, 
 scribes, and elders already mentioned. Matthew represents the 
 Pharisaic party as the senders, and the persons sent as certain of 
 their own 'disciples.' If they were young pupils the selection 
 would be cunningly made, so as to give the impression of sincerity 
 and guilelessness on the part of the questioners. The authorities 
 change their tactics. Instead of confronting Jesus in a body, they 
 now send separate companies of emissaries, all with the purpose 
 of getting Jesus to compromise himself by something he might be 
 tempted to say in reply to some apparently innocent question. 
 A series of three such questions follows. 
 
 and of the Herodians. The Pharisees take the lead, but 
 associate with themselves some of the Herodians. By these we 
 are to understand members of the Herodian party, of which 
 mention has already been made in Mark's Gospel (iii. 6) ; not, 
 as some imagine, some of Herod's soldiers (Luke xxiii. 11). This 
 combination of Herodians with the Pharisees is noticed only by 
 Mark. It is of a piece with the crafty character of the policy as 
 a whole. For these two parties were sharply divided in their 
 sympathies with regard to the matter at issue, the one being 
 intensely opposed to the foreign rule of the Roman, the other 
 
ST. MARK 12. 14-16 279 
 
 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, 14 
 we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one : 
 for thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth 
 teachest the way of God : Is it lawful to give tribute unto 
 Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? 15 
 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why 
 tempt ye me ? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And 16 
 
 accepting it and profiting by it. In his reply, therefore, Jesus 
 could not avoid, as they thought, giving offence to one or other, 
 catch him, or l ensnare ' him. It is a hunter's term. 
 
 14. we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one. 
 A cunningly contrived address, using his truthfulness and fearless- 
 ness as inducements to make him answer. Surely he was not the 
 man to shirk awkward and dangerous questions. He would meet 
 their difficulties at any cost, without regard to fear or favour, and 
 so they came to him. 
 
 Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar ? The ' tribute ' is the 
 capitation -tax or poll-tax (as distinguished from the ordinary 
 customs on merchandize), levied on individuals and paid yearly 
 into the imperial treasury. It was an offence to the patriotic Jew, 
 as it was the token of his subjection to foreign rule, and because 
 the coin in which it was paid bore the emperor's effigy. This 
 was not the case with the copper coins current among the Jews 
 locally, as distinguished from the imperial coinage. In deference 
 to Jewish feeling these were stamped with other devices — leaves 
 of the native trees, and the like. 
 
 15. Shall we give, or shall we not give ? The former question 
 touched only the legitimacy of paying the tax under the provisions 
 of the Jewish law. This one brought the matter to the practical 
 point of actual payment or refusal. The rising of Judas of 
 Galilee, the Gaulanite as he is called by Josephus {Antjq. 
 xviii. i. .1), which is referred to in Acts (v. 37), had its occasion 
 in the odium attaching to this tax. In the second administration 
 of Ouirinius (cf. Luke ii. 1, 2, with respect to the first), when 
 Judaea had been made a part of the Roman province of Syria, 
 a census was ordered (a. d. 6-8), ' the great census,' as it was 
 termed, which was taken according to the Roman methods of 
 enumeration and valuation. It meant the exaction of tribute, which 
 was fiercely resisted by Judas and his followers. To pay tribute 
 to a heathen ruler was to be unfaithful to Jehovah whom alone 
 they owned as king. 
 
 bring me a penny : rather, a silverling or a shilling. The 
 tribute had to be paid in the imperial silver coinage. Matthew 
 
280 ST. MARK 12. 17 
 
 they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this 
 image and superscription ? And they said unto him, 
 17 Caesar's. And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Caesar 
 the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that 
 are God's. And they marvelled greatly at him. 
 
 and Luke say ' shew me.' But Mark's 'bring me' expresses the 
 exact position. It was Jewish coins that were required for the 
 temple, and the men now about Jesus, Pharisees and others, might 
 not have a denarius in their purses. The coin had to be procured, 
 probably from the money-changers, and the bystanders would 
 wait for it wondering all the more what was to happen. 
 
 16. image : the figure of the head of Tiberius, encircled by 
 laurel. 
 
 superscription : the legend or device on the other side of the 
 coin. A figure of Livia, the emperor's mother, seated, the sceptre 
 in one hand and a flower in the other, is shewn on a denarius 
 which has come down from the time. 
 
 they said unto him, Csesar's. Thus were they made to 
 answer their own question. The Jewish Rabbis taught that 
 ' wheresoever the money of any king is current, there the in- 
 habitants acknowledge that king for their lord.' (See Abbot's 
 Commentary on Matthew and Mark, p. 242.) 
 
 17. Bender. The word is the one used for the giving back 
 of the book to the attendant in the synagogue at Nazareth, and of 
 the healed boy to his father (Luke iv. 20, ix. 42). It means the 
 discharge of a debt, the giving back of something that is due. 
 Benefits received under a government imply corresponding obliga- 
 tions to it. Acceptance of the government of Caesar, as indicated 
 by acceptance of his coinage and enjoyment of the privileges 
 secured under his rule, meant acceptance also of responsibilities, 
 and among these the payment of what was Caesar's due, what 
 was required for the support of his administration. 
 
 unto Csesar the things that are Csesar's, and unto Cod the 
 things that are God's. There are duties to civil government, 
 then, and duties to God. They are entirely compatible with each 
 other, and are to be faithfully discharged each in its own proper 
 sphere. But there is also a distinction between them, and the one 
 class is not to be confused with the other. There is further a limit 
 to the former. ' The powers that be are ordained of God' (Rom. xiii. 
 1) ; Caesar himself is of God, and his commands are binding so far 
 as they are consistent with that relation. Submission and loyal 
 obedience to civil rule are enforced repeatedly in the N.T. , especially 
 by Paul and Peter (Rom. xiii. 1-7 ; 1 Cor. vii. 21-24 ; Eph. vi. 5 8 ; 
 Col. iii. 22-25 j r Pet- "• I 3 _I 7)- The duty of refusing obedience 
 
ST. MARK 12. 1 8 281 
 
 And there come unto him Sadducees, which say that iS 
 
 when the requirements of civil authority conflict with the supreme 
 law of duty to God is recognized both in the O. T. (Dan. iii. 18, 
 vi. 10) and in the N. T. (Acts iv. 19, v. 29). 
 
 marvelled greatly. A strong word, found in the N. T. only 
 here, and meaning that they were utterly amazed, so that they 
 had nothing to say (they ' held their peace,' says Luke) and were 
 glad to quit the scene. They ' left him, and went their way,' says 
 Matthew. They had hoped they were to ensnare him one way 
 or other. If he said they should pay the tax, he would turn 
 the people against him, who expected their Messiah to rid them 
 of the Roman yoke and the hated Roman taxation. If he said 
 they should not pay, he would expose himself to the charge of 
 not being Caesar's friend, and have the Roman authorities against 
 him. The accusation of perverting the nation and 'forbidding 
 to give tribute to Caesar,' for which the reply desired by these 
 Pharisees would have given ground, was afterwards made against 
 him in spite of their defeat on this occasion (Luke xxiii. 2). Here 
 their own action is made to refute and silence them. 
 
 xii. 18-27. The Question of the Sadducees. Cf. Matt. xxii. 23-33 5 
 Luke xx. 27 38. 
 
 18. there come unto him Sadducees. The emissaries of the 
 Pharisees being discomfited, certain members of the opposite part} 7 
 take their place. This is the first and only direct introduction of 
 the party of the Sadducees in Mark's Gospel, and the same is the 
 case with Luke (xx. 27). The Sadducees indeed are seldom 
 mentioned by name in the N. T. In the Book of Acts they come 
 thrice upon the scene (iv. I, v. 17, xxii. 6, 7, 8). As to the Gospels, 
 it is mainly in Matthew that they appear, and not often even there 
 (iii. 1, 7, v. 17. xvi. 6, 11, 12, xxii. 23, 34V In John's Gospel they 
 are never noticed directly by name. Josephus speaks of them as 
 a small minority of the Jews, and as consisting only of the rich 
 and those of highest station (Antiq. xiii. x. 6, xviii. i. 4V The 
 word Sadducees is now generally understood to be derived from 
 the proper name Zadok. The Zadok in view is probably the 
 faithful priest of David's time (2 Sam. xv. 24, &c. ; 1 Kings i. 32, 
 &c). The sons of Zadok had a conspicuous place among the 
 priestly families after the return from exile. They represented 
 the old priestly party, who sought to bring the Jewish people over 
 to Greek ways. They are first heard of as a distinct part}' in the 
 reign of John Hyrcanus (135-105 b. c.V They enjoyed most 
 power during the times preceding Pompcy's capture of Jerusalem. 
 After the destruction of the city in a. d. 70 the}' are no more heard 
 of. They belonged to the priestly aristocracy, the party being 
 made up indeed of chief priests and their families. Hence when 
 
2 32 ST. MARK 12. 19-21 
 
 there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 
 
 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and 
 leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his 
 brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his 
 
 20 brother. There were seven brethren : and the first took 
 
 21 a wife, and dying left no seed; and the second took her, 
 
 the ' chief priests ' are mentioned along with the Pharisees, the 
 Sadducaic party may be understood to be in view. They counted 
 for little with the people, and they do not seem to have taken any 
 notice of Jesus till late in his ministry. When he accepted the 
 title 'son of David,' and interfered with the jurisdiction of the 
 great council by changing things in the temple, the Sadducees 
 joined with others in the opposition which aimed at his life. 
 
 which say that there is no resurrection. So, too, in the 
 parallel passages in Matthew and Luke. So also Josephus (Antiq. 
 xviii. i. 3, &c). In Acts it is added that thej' held also that there 
 is ' neither angel nor spirit ' (xxiii. 8). From Josephus we learn 
 further that they denied future rewards and punishments ; that 
 they thought of the soul as perishing with the body ; and that they 
 disavowed the doctrines of fate, or absolute foreordination, and 
 providence {Antiq. xviii. i. 3, &c. ; Jewish War, ii. viii. 14). 
 
 19. Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die. The 
 reference is to the Levirate law as given in the Deuteronomic 
 code (Deut. xxv. 5, 6), which was a provision to prevent the 
 extinction of families. This law of Levirate marriage was to 
 the effect that, if a man died without a son to succeed him, his 
 brother should marry the widow, and that the first-born son of 
 this second union should be registered as the child of the deceased 
 husband. It is to be observed, however, that it did not apply 
 universally, but only to cases where the brothers dwelt together. 
 The law is quoted freety, so that the terms vary somewhat in the 
 several records. 
 
 20. There were seven brethren. They put an imaginary case 
 and an extreme one, which might seem to reduce the doctrine of 
 a bodily resurrection to absurdity. Not unlikely it was a familiar 
 puzzle with which the sceptical Sadducee was accustomed to vex 
 the soul of the orthodox Pharisee ; and to the Pharisee with his 
 crude, materialistic ideas of the future life it would be a great 
 difficulty. Would this new teacher be able to meet it without 
 committing himself to their sceptical doctrine, or to a position 
 which could be ridiculed ? The doctrine of a bodily resurrection 
 and the word of the law in the matter of Levirate unions were 
 things that could not, as they thought, be reconciled. Could he 
 answer so as to make them consistent ? 
 
ST. MARK 12. 22-26 283 
 
 and died, leaving no seed behind him ; and the third 
 likewise: and the seven left no seed. Last of all the 22 
 woman also died. In the resurrection whose wife shall 23 
 she be of them ? for the seven had her to wife. Jesus 24 
 said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that 
 ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For 25 
 when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, 
 nor are given in marriage ; but are as angels in heaven. 
 But as touching the dead, that they are raised ; have ye 26 
 
 24. Is it not for this cause that ye err ? He declares the 
 questioners themselves at fault. The difficulty which they pro- 
 pounded had no foundation. It was in error the}' made of it what 
 the}' did. He gives two reasons also for their mistake — their 
 misunderstanding of the very scriptures to which they appealed, 
 and their ignorance of the power of God. In the following verses 
 he explains these reasons further, taking the latter first. 
 
 25. they neither marry, nor are given in marriage. These 
 Sadducees, clever as they judged themselves, and ill-content with 
 the popular doctrine, were yet as incapable as others of rising 
 above the ordinary notions of things. They thought of life only 
 as it was known to them under its earthly conditions. The}' had 
 no conception of a life that could be both lived and continued 
 under higher conditions and with different relations. But God's 
 power was not to be limited, as they imagined, to one order of 
 existence. He could provide a life in which there was no death, 
 and, therefore, neither birth nor marriage. So in Luke the state- 
 ment is given in these express terms — 'They that are accounted 
 worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, 
 neither marry, nor are given in marriage : for neither can they die 
 any more ' (xx. 35, 36). 
 
 are as angels. Not ' are angels,' but * are as angels.' The 
 difference between human existence and angelic remains ; but in 
 the resurrection-life men will be like angels, as the possessors of 
 an undying life, independent of the marriage relation. 
 
 26. have ye not read in the book of Moses ? Jesus now passes 
 to the other reason for their mistake — their misunderstandings of 
 scripture. They had appealed to Moses. He now confutes them 
 by Moses, convicting them of ignorance of the very authority they 
 had adduced. The 'book of Moses' is the law ; which gets that 
 name in the O. T. (2 Chron. xxxv. 12), but in the N. T. is usually 
 known as 'Moses' ("Luke xvi. 20^ or 'the law of Moses' (Luke 
 xxiv. 44 ; Acts xxviii. 23 ; cf. John i. 45). 
 
284 ST. MARK 12. 27 
 
 not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the 
 Bash, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God 
 of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 27 Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living : 
 ye do greatly err. 
 
 in the place concerning the Bush : lit. l at The Bush ' ; 'that 
 is, in the paragraph of the Torah or Law which gives the story of 
 the Burning Bush (Exod. iii. 1, &c). So in Rom. xi. 2 we have 
 ' in Elijah' (R. V., marg.) for ' in the section relating to Elijah.' 
 
 how God spake vmto him. In Luke. Moses is made the speaker 
 (xx. 37.) 
 
 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob. Cf. Exod. iii. 6. The repetition of the terms points 
 to the distinct and individual relation in which God stands to 
 each. 
 
 27. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. God 
 spoke of Himself as still the God of the patriarchs, still in relation 
 to them though they were departed. But the living God can be in 
 actual, living relation only to the living. Hence these departed 
 fathers must be in existence. The point of the statement turns on 
 two things. Of these the first is the O. T. conception of the divine 
 fellowship. The condition of life, of all life worthy of the name, is 
 the fellowship of God, and that fellowship ensures the life (cf. e. g. 
 Ps. xvi. 8-1 1, xlix. 13-15, lxxiii. 23-26.) The second is the O. T. 
 conception of man. The Hebrew Scriptures think of man as a 
 unity, in the integrity and oneness of his corporeal and incorporeal 
 nature. They do not distinguish sharply, as modern thought does, 
 between soul and body, and speak simply of the immortality of 
 the latter. It is the man himself, the whole living, breathing man, 
 that passes at death unto Sheol, the unseen world, and continues 
 to exist there. It was on these foundations that the O. T. revela- 
 tion of life, immortality, and resurrection rose and grew from 
 stage to stage in definiteness and clearness. So the argument 
 from the words ' I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, 
 and the God of Jacob/ which might seem to us not to cany us 
 beyond the idea of an immortality of soul, meant to the Hebrew 
 mind the continued existence of the man himself in the integrity of 
 his substantial, living being, and so contained the idea of a resur- 
 rection. Luke adds 'for all live to him,' extending the scope of 
 the statement beyond the patriarchs named. To us men seem to 
 die ; to God they live. ' Death is a change of relation to the world 
 and to men ; it does not change our relation to God ' (Swete). 
 
 ye do greatly err. Peculiar to Mark. Their lack of insight 
 into scripture had led them far astra}'. Matthew notices the effect 
 
ST. MARK 12. 28-31 285 
 
 And one of the scribes came, and heard them question- 28 
 ing together, and knowing that he had answered them 
 well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all ? 
 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord 29 
 our God, the Lord is one : and thou shalt love the Lord 3° 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second 31 
 is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There 
 
 upon the people and upon the questioners. The multitudes ' were 
 astonished ' ; the Sadducees were 'put to silence' (xxii. 33, 34). 
 xii. 28-34. The Question of a Scribe : cf. Matt. xxii. 34-40. 
 
 28. one of the scribes came. This scribe, a 'lawyer' as 
 Matthew calls him, had been present when the question of the 
 resurrection was under discussion, and had been impressed by the 
 reply of Jesus. He belonged to the party of the Pharisees (Matt, 
 xxii. 34. 35 , and when the opposite sect withdraws silenced, he 
 comes forward with a question of a different kind. Matthew speaks 
 of him as 'tempting' Jesus (xxii. 35). Mark represents Jesus as 
 recognizing the discreetness of his words (xii. 34). Luke intro- 
 duces his account of the question of a lawyer regarding the way to 
 inherit eternal life at an earlier stage, after his report of the mission 
 of the Seventy, and in connexion with the parable of the Good 
 Samaritan (x. 25-29A 
 
 What commandment ? The words may refer to the quality 
 of the commandment rather than to its place among the ten. What 
 is the kind of commandment that is entitled to rank first? What 
 must be its distinguishing quality ? The question was one often 
 debated in the schools. 
 
 29. The first is, Hear,0 Israel. Jesus at once points the scribe 
 to the words of the Deuteronomic version of the decalogue ( Deut. vi. 
 4, 5\ and to that part of it which not only had the foremost place 
 in the code, but was repeated twice every day by all Jews, and was 
 carried about by the strictest of them in their phylacteries — the two 
 small leather boxes worn, the one on the forehead and the other 
 on the left arm ^Matt. xxiii. 1, &c). Our Lord may have pointed, 
 as he spoke, to such a phylactery on the person of the scribe him- 
 self as a visible witness to the supremacy of the commandment 
 which enjoined love to God, and that with all the capacities of our 
 being — 'heart' and 'soul' and 'mind' and 'strength,' the whole 
 force of our intellectual, emotional, and moral nature. 
 
 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Better than the render- 
 ing of the A. V., ' the Lord our God is one Lord.' 
 
 31. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 
286 ST. MARK 12. 32-34 
 
 32 is none other commandment greater than these. And 
 the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Master, thou hast 
 well said that he is one ; and there is none other but he : 
 
 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the 
 understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his 
 neighbour as himself, is much more than all whole burnt 
 
 34 offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he 
 answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far 
 from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst 
 ask him any question. 
 
 thyself. The words are from Leviticus (xix. 18V, cf. Rom. xiii. 9 ; 
 Gal. v. 14; Jas. ii. 8. In Leviticus the word 'neighbour' is used 
 with reference to fellow Jews. In the N.T. it has the widest possible 
 extension of meaning. Jesus lifted it at once and for ever out of its 
 more limited application by his parable of the Good Samaritan 
 (Luke x. 29-37). This precept, therefore, expresses the principle 
 of the second table of the moral law as the former does that of the 
 first table. This mention of a second foremost commandment is 
 made unsolicited, and this precept is said by Jesus expressly to 
 be Mike unto' the first (xxii. 39), of the same character, with 
 the same claims, and equally essential. The sum and substance 
 of all duty are in these two requirements, and the second is the 
 test of the first. Than these there can be none ' greater.' 
 
 34. answered discreetly. Jesus saw that the scribe recognized 
 the moral duties to be far more than ceremonial performances and 
 material sacrifices in any of their forms. ' Burnt-offerings' is the 
 more specific term, applicable to offerings expressive of thanks- 
 giving or, it may be, of dedication. l Sacrifices ' is the more 
 general term, covering all kinds of sacrificial victims or offerings. 
 In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read of i sacrifices and offerings, 
 and whole burnt- offerings and sacrifices for sin' (x. 8). 
 
 Thou art not far front the kingdom of God. The scribe had 
 at least this qualification for the kingdom, that he understood its 
 requirements to be moral requirements, the fundamental duties of 
 love to God and love to man, and not ceremonial observances. 
 Having this insight into spiritual things and this sympathy with 
 them, he wanted little to make him a disciple. 
 
 durst ask him any question. The policy of entangling 
 questions had failed. In each case the captious questioners had 
 been refuted out of their own mouths, and in each case the diffi- 
 culty had been solved by being taken down to the underlying 
 principle. None had the courage to proceed further in this way. 
 
ST. MARK 12. 354-37 287 
 
 And Jesus answered and said, as he taught in the 35 
 temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the son 
 of David ? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 36 
 
 The Lord said unto my Lord, 
 
 Sit thou on my right hand, 
 
 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. 
 David himself calleth him Lord ; and whence is he his 37 
 son ? And the common people heard him gladly. 
 
 xii. 35-40. The Counter-question of Jesus : cf. Matt. xxii. 41-45 ; 
 Luke xx. 41-44. 
 
 35. answered and said. As if in what he now said he had still 
 questions in view, those questions which had been put to him. 
 He will now dismiss them once and for all by a counter-question, 
 and one which these men could not answer. 
 
 as he taught in the temple. When courage failed his 
 interrogators to continue their course, he was able to resume 
 his instructions in the temple which had been interrupted. 
 
 How say the scribes ? In Matthew the question is addressed 
 to the Pharisees. Both parties seem to have been present again. 
 
 that the Christ (i. e. the Messiah) is the son of David. 
 That the Messiah was to come of David's line was inferred from 
 important passages in the Prophets (Isa. xi. 1 ; Jer. xxiii. 5) and 
 the Psalms (lxxxix. 3, 4, exxxii. 11). It was the general belief 
 of the time (cf. Matt. xxi. 9, 15; Mark xi. 10). 
 
 36. David himself said in the Holy Spirit. That is, by in- 
 spiration, or in the character of a prophet. So Peter, quoting the 
 sixteenth Psalm as David's, says of him that ' being a prophet . . . 
 he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ ' (Acts ii. 
 2 5» 3°i 3 r )« The mention of his inspiration here gives the greater 
 authority to his words. The Psalm in question, the sixteenth, 
 was interpreted as a Messianic Psalm, and in that character it is 
 quoted in the N. T. more frequently than any other Messianic 
 passage of the O. T. (Acts ii. 34, 35 ; 1 Cor. xv. 25 ; Heb. i. 13, 
 v. 6, vii. 17, 21). It is quoted here with very little modification 
 from the Greek version of the O. T. Jesus does not pause here to 
 occupy himself with any questions of Biblical criticism. He accepts 
 the current view of the authorship and the interpretation of the 
 Psalm, and on that basis proposes his question, by which he is at 
 once to silence these crafty adversaries finally, and to expose the 
 insufficiency of their ideas of the Messiah. 
 
 37. David himself calleth him Zaord. The Psalm speaks of 
 a prince who is also priest, and of him as one who is exalted to 
 equality with Jehovah and makes subjects of all his enemies. This 
 
288 ST. MARK 12. 38-40 
 
 38 And in his teaching he said, Beware of the scribes, 
 
 which desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations 
 
 ;,9 in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, 
 
 40 and chief places at feasts : they which devour widows' 
 
 prince is addressed by Jehovah and is called by him Lord. This 
 is said by ' David himself,' the Psalm being written by him, and 
 it is said prophetically of the Messiah whom these scribes and 
 Pharisees speak of as the son of David. So there arises the 
 difficulty which is expressed in the next sentence. 
 
 whence is he his son ? How comes it then that he is his 
 son ? How can this Messiah, who is the subject of David's 
 prophecy, be at once David's Lord and David's son ? To this 
 question neither scribes nor Pharisees could reply, because their 
 ideas of the Messiah were limited and insufficient. The conjunction 
 of Lordship and sonship meant, what they did not recognize, that 
 the Messiah was more than a royal descendant of David the king — 
 that he had a higher relation still, a peculiar relation to God which 
 made him Lord even of David. 
 
 And the common people : rather, the ' great multitude ' of 
 the common people. 
 
 heard him gladly. In the connexion in which they stand here 
 the words seem to mean that they heard gladly what he said of 
 Messiah's Lordship as well as his Davidic sonship. 
 
 xii. 38-40. Warning against the Scribes : cf. Matt, xxiii. 1-39; 
 Luke xx. 45-47. 
 
 38. And in his teaching he said. He was able now to 
 continue his teaching. It was directed both to his disciples and to 
 the people (Matt, xxiii. 1), to the disciples in the first instance, but 
 also in the hearing of the people i^Luke xx. 45). It took the form 
 now of denunciation of the professional classes and warning against 
 them. Of this teaching Mark and Luke give but a few representa- 
 tive fragments. In Matthew we have it recorded at greater 
 length. 
 
 which desire to walk in long robes. Stately, flowing robes 
 like those of kings and priests. The sign of ostentation. 
 
 salutations in the marketplaces. High-sounding titles, 
 Rabbi, Master, and the like (cf. Matt. xxii. 7-10), addressed to 
 them in the most public way. 
 
 39. chief seats in the synagogues. Probably the benches or 
 stalls reserved for the elders, in front of the ark and facing the 
 people. 
 
 chief places at feasts. Not ' the uppermost rooms' as in the 
 A. V., but the places reserved at table for the most eminent guests. 
 What these were is not quite certain. Probably custom was not 
 
ST. MARK 12. 4 r 289 
 
 houses, and for a pretence make long prayers ; these 
 shall receive greater condemnation. 
 
 And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld 41 
 
 constant. But in the Rabbinical books the seat of honour is said 
 to have been the central place, when three persons reclined 
 together. Three couches, it is said, used to be arranged along 
 three sides of a table (the fourth side being left open for the 
 purpose of service), and of these the middle one was the place 
 of the chief guest. These scribes craved, therefore, to be treated 
 as the personages of the greatest importance on social occasions as 
 well as on religious. 
 
 40. they which devour widows' houses. Widows were 
 under the protection of the Law (Exod. xxii. 22), and the scribes, 
 as the custodians and interpreters of the Law, were specially bound 
 to care for them. The guilt of these scribes in enriching them- 
 selves, no doubt under legal forms, at the cost of the solitary and 
 defenceless ones who trusted them, was all the greater. 
 
 and for a pretence make long- prayers. They hid their 
 real character under a profession of extraordinary piety, and 
 under colour of being men more given to prayer than others 
 practised their greed}' and dishonest arts. 
 
 Ostentation, ambition, pride, avarice— these were the sins that 
 brought judgement on the scribes, and the heavier judgement 
 because all was done under the cloak of hypocrisy. The man who 
 lives for avarice and ambition has his condemnation. The man 
 who does this under the cover of a loud religious profession has 
 the greater condemnation. 
 
 xii. 41-44. The Widow's Offering : cf. Luke xxi. 1-4. 
 
 41. he sat down. Jesus had left the court of the Gentiles in 
 which he had been teaching and answering ensnaring questions, 
 and had passed into the court of the women. Here he seated 
 himself, weary no doubt with what he had had to do. on the steps 
 or within the gate (where alone it seems to have been allowable ; 
 see Edcrsheim's The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 387 ), 
 and watched the people as they brought their gifts. Mark's 
 narrative is characteristically graphic all through. It shews us 
 Jesus seating himself, the exact position which he took, the interest 
 with which he watched the multitudes of various classes passing 
 him. the solitary figure of the widow catching his attention, and his 
 call to the disciples. 
 
 over ag-ainst the treasury. In the Apocrypha mention is 
 made of the sacred treasury — a depositor}' for the safe keeping not 
 only of treasure, but of public records, and also of the propert} 7 of 
 widows and orphans (1 Mace. xiv. 49; 2 Mace. iii. 6, 10, 28, 40, 
 iv. 4a, v. 18). Josephus also speaks of ' treasuries in the court 
 
 U 
 
290 ST. MARK 12. 42 
 
 how the multitude cast money into the treasury : and 
 
 42 many that were rich cast in much. And there came 
 
 a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make 
 
 of the women in Herod's temple (Jewish War, v. v. 2, vi. v. 2), 
 and of' the treasury ' (Antiq. xix. vi. 1). Here the name 'treasury' 
 appears to be given to that part of the court of the women (a court 
 large enough, it is said, to accommodate more than 15,000 people") 
 in which provision was made for receiving the contributions of the 
 worshippers. Under the colonnades were placed thirteen boxes, 
 which were called the ' trumpets,' because of their trumpet- 
 shaped mouths, into which offerings in money were dropped. 
 (Cf. Luke xxi. 1, and also John viii. 20.) Of these, according 
 to Lightfoot {Horce Hcbr. et Talm., p. 536, &c), 'nine chests 
 were for the appointed temple-tribute, and for the sacrifice-tribute, 
 that is, money-gifts instead of the sacrifices ; four chests for 
 free-will offerings, for wood, incense, temple decoration, and burnt- 
 offerings.' 
 
 beheld how the multitude cast money. The money would 
 be mostly the copper coins which 'the masses' handled. Luke 
 says Jesus 'looked up' (xx. 1), that is, from the floor of the 
 court or the steps where he had sat down, his attention being 
 caught by the moving figures, and the dropping of the coins into 
 the boxes. 
 
 many that were rich cast in much. It became so much 
 the fashion to give lavishly that a law had to be enacted, we are 
 told, forbidding the gift to the temple of more than a certain pro- 
 portion of one's possessions. And the amount of such contributions 
 may be inferred b}^ ' recalling the circumstance that, at the time 
 of Pompey and Crassus, the temple-treasury, after having lavishly 
 defrayed every possible expenditure, contained in money nearly 
 half a million, and precious vessels to the value of nearly two 
 millions sterling.' (Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the 
 Messiah, ii. p. 388.) 
 
 42. And there came a poor widow. ' One poor widow,' as 
 the margin of the R. V. puts it. A single, solitary, sorrowful, 
 poverty-stricken figure, lost in the passing crowds, but filling the 
 Master's eye. 
 
 two mites, which make a farthing*. The ' mite ' was a small 
 copper coin, the smallest Jewish coin indeed, in value making half 
 a Roman quadrans (as Mark explains to his Gentile readers), the 
 eighth of an as, or the eightieth part of the denarius or shilling, 
 which made the day's wage of a labourer. It would take about 
 ten of these mites to make one of our pennies. The widow had but 
 two of these trifling coins, and she parted with both. There was 
 
ST. MARK 12. 4? — 13. i 291 
 
 1 farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and 4?. 
 said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow 
 cast in more than all they which are casting into the 
 treasury : for they all did cast in of their superfluity ; but 44 
 she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her 
 living. 
 
 And as he went forth out of the temple, one of his 13 
 disciples saith unto him, Master, behold, what manner 
 
 a Rabbinical rule forbidding an offering so meagre as a single 
 mite. But that referred to the case of almsgiving, and is not in 
 point here. 
 
 43. called ... his disciples. He would have them together again 
 and near him, so that all might hear the lesson suggested by this 
 incident. And lie gives them to understand its importance for 
 themselves by prefacing it with the solemn words, 'Verily I say 
 unto you.' 
 
 cast in more than all they. In this case the poor giver, 
 he wished them to understand, was the princely giver — a more 
 liberal contributor than the whole multitude of the others. 
 
 44. of their superfluity. . . she of her want. The circumstances 
 of the case explain the judgement. All the others gave out of their 
 abundance, and their gift was limited to what they could easily 
 spare. She gave out of her penurj', and her gift consisted of all 
 that she had — ' even all her living,' all that she had for her support 
 at the time. The giver, not the gift ; the measure of the self- 
 sacrifice, not the amount of the contribution — that is the Divine 
 standard of appraisement. 
 
 xiii. 1-2. Announcement of the Destruction of the Temple : cf. 
 Matt. xxiv. i-a ; Luke xxi. 5-6. 
 
 1. as he went forth out of the temple. The work of another 
 day being finished, he was again leaving the temple courts, and, 
 as we may infer, turning towards Bethany. It is probable that 
 the visit of the Greeks recorded by John (xii. 20-36) took place 
 immediately before this departure from the temple. These Greeks 
 could not enter the court of the women. This explains perhaps 
 their request to see Jesus. In the outer court they might see 
 him , but they could not pass beyond that. 
 
 one of his disciples. He is not named, but he may have 
 beer Peter, the usual spokesman, or Andrew. 
 
 behold, what manner of stones and what manner of build- 
 ing . I The Herodian temple was of extraordinary magnificence 
 and architectural grandeur. The blocks of which it was built were 
 of a magnitude that staggers the modern Western mind. Josephus 
 
 U 2 
 
292 ST. MARK 13. 2, 3 
 
 2 of stones and what manner of buildings ! And Jesus 
 said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there 
 shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall 
 not be thrown down. 
 
 3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives over against the 
 
 speaks of the stones of part of it as being ' each in length twenty- 
 five cubits, in height eight, in breadth about twelve' (Antiq. xv. 
 xi. 3), and of some of them as being 'forty-five cubits in length, 
 five in height, and six in breadth ' {Jewish War, v. v. 6). It was 
 not strange that the disciples, as they were leaving it now and 
 looked upon its glories, called the Master's attention to its mass 
 and splendour, the stupendous blocks of marble of which it was 
 built, the grandeur of its various parts, its courts and gates and 
 colonnades and the votive offerings (the 'gifts' of Luke xxi. 5), 
 such as the golden vine presented by Herod the Great, with 
 which it was enriched. Their action may have been prompted 
 by something just said by Jesus, perhaps by his lament over 
 Jerusalem and the words about the desolation of the house with 
 which, according to Matthew's Gospel (xxiii. 37-39), he closed 
 his denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees. 
 
 2. Seest thou these great buildings? Did the speaker's eye 
 rest with pride and wonder on the structure that made Jerusalem 
 famous over the world ? It was to gaze upon a different spectacle 
 shortly. 
 
 there shall not be left here one stone upon another. 
 Some of the great stones of the underbuilding yet remain. But 
 of the structure on which the disciples now looked nothing is left 
 standing. The destruction that has overtaken the great temples 
 of ancient Egypt is less utter by far than is the case with the 
 temple of the Jews. When Titus captured Jerusalem he left 
 the work of demolition to be completed by the tenth legion, and 
 it was done so thoroughly that ' no one visiting the city, 1 says 
 Josephus, ' would believe it had ever been inhabited ' (Jewish War. 
 vii. i. 1). Jesus took up the announcement of ancient prophecy 
 which declared that Zion was to be ' plowed as a field,' and 
 Jerusalem to 'become heaps, and the mountain of the house as he 
 high places of a forest ' (Mic. iii. 12), and in forty years after he 
 spoke his word was fulfilled to the letter. 
 
 xiii. 3-13. The Questions of four of the Twelve, and the Answer 
 of Jesus: cf. Matt. xxiv. 3-14; Luke xxi. 8-19. 
 
 3. as he sat on the mount of Olives. On his way to Bet, ny 
 Jesus had now crossed the Kidron and got to the top of the sp 
 path up the mount of Olives. Here he paused and sat do\ in to 
 
ST. MARK 13. 4-6 293 
 
 temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked 
 him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and 4 
 what shall be the sign when these things are all about 
 to be accomplished ? And Jesus began to say unto them, 5 
 Take heed that no man lead you astray. Many shall 6 
 come in my name, saying, I am he ; and shall lead many 
 
 rest, vith the temple full in his view. Seen from this position 
 the magnificent structure so splendidly placed must have been a 
 gr i and glorious spectacle. 
 
 . sked him privately. Four of the Twelve come up to him 
 as he sits < whether acting of themselves or chosen for the purpose 
 by their brethren is not explained , and apart from the rest 
 S certain questions to him. They are the two pairs of 
 brothers who were the first called, and they are named in the 
 order in which they appear in the record of the selection and 
 ordination of the apostles. 
 
 4. Tell us, when shall these things be? The questions were 
 suggested by what Jesus had just said of the overthrow of the 
 massive buildings on which they had been looking. The first 
 of the two questions was about the time when 'these things' 
 (Ihat is, the predicted destruction of the temple) were to come 
 about. The second question was about 'the sign,' some visible 
 portent or signal which they expected to be given and by which 
 they might know the events in question to be near. They speak 
 as if only one sign, a definite and unmistakable token, was in 
 their thoughts. Matthew represents the questions as touching 
 not only the destruction of the temple, but Christ's own ' coming * 
 and the i end of the world,' or ' consummation of the age ' (xxiv. 3). 
 The nearer event is thus taken as coincident with the remoter, 
 and the one is regarded as included in the other. 
 
 5. Take heed that no man lead you astray. In his reply, 
 Jesus has regard first to the question about the sign. But he 
 mentions no single sign such as the four spoke of. And before he 
 addresses himself to either question he delivers a solemn caution, 
 one which he also repeats as he proceeds, to the questioners 
 themselves. Their first necessity was to look to themselves and 
 their own peril— a peril against which they might be helpless 
 if their minds were taken up by questions about times and signs. 
 That was the danger of being beguiled and ' led astray ' by preten- 
 tious, religious impostors. 
 
 6. many shall come in my name. The possibility of being 
 seduced from their faith— that is the first thing on which they 
 require instruction and forewarning. And the danger was great, 
 because in these searching and calamitous titncb there would be 
 
294 ST. MARK 13. 7,8 
 
 7 astray. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours 
 of wars, be not troubled : these things must needs come 
 
 8 to pass ; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise 
 against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : there shall 
 be earthquakes in divers places ; there shall be famines : 
 these things are the beginning of travail. 
 
 many false teachers, who would come ' saying, I am he? that is, 
 claiming to be the Messiah. Josephus speaks more than once 
 of such false prophets and impostors, and mentions one by name — 
 Theudas (Antiq. xx. v. 1 ; Jewish War, ii. xiii. 4). The case of 
 Simon Magus, who gave himself out to be ' some great one ' and 
 was taken by the Samaritan multitude to be ' that power of God 
 which is called Great 1 (Acts viii. 9, 10), is also in point. 
 
 7. wars and rumours of wars. Times of unrest and political 
 commotion were before them. In point of fact, during the thirty 
 or forty years preceding the fall of Jerusalem the Holy Land was 
 in a peculiarly unsettled condition. It was a period of risings, 
 riots, and deepening conflict with the Roman power. 
 
 be not troubled : these things must needs come to pass. 
 They were not to take these things as the sign of the end or 
 become disquieted by them. Such commotions were only in the 
 natural course of things — things that in the Divine purpose have 
 to come, and things that may come at any time in the present 
 condition of the world. 
 
 8. for nation shall rise against nation. In spite of these 
 wars and rumours of wars the end will not be yet, and for the 
 reason that there are other things which must happen before that — 
 struggles among the nations, earthquakes, famines. Luke adds 
 4 pestilences,' and ' terrors and great signs from heaven' (xxi. 11). 
 Notice the sententiousness of Mark's statement, 'there shall be 
 earthquakes in divers places ; there shall be famines.' Compare 
 the terms in which both in O. T. prophecy and in the non-canonical 
 Apocalypses announcements of judicial visitations of God are given 
 (e. g. Isa. viii. 21 ; Jer. xxiii. 19 ; Ezek. v. 12 : Book 0/ Enoch, i. 6 ; 
 4 Esdras xvi. 36-40). In Acts xi. 28 reference is made to the 
 prophecy of famine ' signified b3^ the Spirit ' by Agabus, and its 
 fulfilment in the time of Claudius. 
 
 these things are the beginning of travail. Such political 
 convulsions and national disasters are not to be taken for the 
 ' end' itself. They are, however, ' the beginning of travail ' — the 
 pangs by which the new order of things, ' the regeneration ' 
 (Matt. xix. 28) will be ushered in. This word 'travail' is of rare 
 occurrence in the N. T. In its literal sense it is used in 1 Thess. 
 
ST. MARK 13. 9, 10 295 
 
 But take ye heed to yourselves : for they shall deliver 9 
 you up to councils ; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten ; 
 and before governors and kings shall ye stand for my sake, 
 for a testimony unto them. And the gospel must first be 10 
 
 v. 3 ; in a figurative sense it is found here, in Matt. xxiv. 8, and 
 (with reference to death in Acts ii. 24. Cf. also Paul's description 
 of the whole creation as travailing in pain together until now, 
 waiting for the event by which it shall be 'delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption' , Rom. viii. 21, 22). In the Rabbinical 
 literature mention is made of the ' pangs ' or ' travails of Messiah ' 
 — the name given to the calamities by which the Advent of 
 Messiah was to be heralded. 
 
 9. But take ye heed to yourselves. A repetition of the caution 
 already given (xiii. 5 N . but with reference to another kind of peril. 
 False teachers, wars, disasters, portents — others might busy 
 themselves with these, and try to discover 'signs' in them. But 
 it should not be so with his disciples. Their first care should be 
 d rected to themselves and the trials that may shake their own 
 • th. 
 
 councils : lit. i Sanhedrins.' Not only the great council of 
 ; rusalem, therefore, but also the local councils, the bodies which 
 1 the power of discipline in Jewish towns, judicial courts con- 
 ing of the elders of the synagogues. Whether in the case of 
 ■ Twelve or in that of others, this announcement had not long 
 vait for its fulfilment (Actsiv. 5, 13, v. 21, 27 ; vi. 12, Stephen ; 
 ■i. 1, Paul), 
 and in synagogues shall ye be beaten : or. ' and into 
 . } igogues, ye shall be beaten.' The ecclesiastical courts proper. 
 ach synagogue there was a subordinate official called the 
 1 • lister,' the Chazzan who was the servant of the congregation, 
 official had not only to see to the production of the copy of 
 t 1 Scriptures at public worship and to its removal again, but 
 also charged with the duty of maintaining order, and had the 
 er of scourging. See Paul's case (2 Cor. xi. 24). 
 governors : that is, rulers less than royal, the name being 
 n in the N. T. to the official representatives of the Imperial 
 r in the provinces — procurators, proconsuls, and the like 
 . ii. 1 ( , anil specially to the Roman Procurator of Judaea 
 t. xxvii. 2). 
 
 kings: supreme rulers, whether kings of particular states 
 « dinan Coesars. Paul had to stand before the governors Felix 
 m . Festus. before the king Agrippa (Acts xxvi. 1-32), and before 
 the emperor Nero (2 Tim. iv. 16). 
 
 for a testimony unto them. To bear witness for Christ — 
 
296 ST. MARK 13. ii, 13 
 
 11 preached unto all the nations. And when they lead you 
 to judgement, and deliver you up, be not anxious before- 
 hand what ye shall speak : but whatsoever shall be given 
 you in that hour, that speak ye : for it is not ye that 
 
 12 speak, but the Holy Ghost. And brother shall deliver 
 
 there was the Divine purpose of the providence which permitted 
 them to be dragged before these various tribunals, Jewish and 
 Roman. Luke gives the other side of this purpose — ' It shall turn 
 unto you for a testimony ' (xxi. 13). 
 
 10. And the gospel must first be preached unto all the 
 nations. The world-wide extension of the ' glad tidings ' must 
 precede the ' end.' This, too, is in the Divine purpose — it \ must,' 
 there is a moral necessity for it. Even before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, Paul could say that * from Jerusalem, and round about 
 even unto Illyricum ' he had ' fully preached the gospel of Christ ' 
 (Rom. xv. 19), and that his mission took him next to the far west, 
 into Spain (Rom. xv. 24, 28). 
 
 11. anxious beforehand: an expressive word, of which this 
 is the one occurrence in the N. T. It conveys the idea of the dis- 
 traction caused by anxiety about what may happen or what ou_ 1 
 to be done. The Master knew how his disciples would be fillca 1 
 with natural fears when thej'were called to answer for themselv 
 before these judicial tribunals, especially the unfamiliar courts 
 which the dreaded Roman authorities sat. He arms them again. .t 
 these distractions by giving them the assurance of Divine he p 
 to meet exceptional trials of their mental resources and their 
 courage. 
 
 it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. When the 
 time to make their defence came, the Spirit of God would be their 
 spokesman or give them what they ought to say — the matter and 
 the words alike. In Luke this assurance is given in more par- 
 ticular terms, recalling the ancient promise to Moses (Exod. 
 11, &c.) — 'I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your 
 adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay ' (xxi. 15). 
 This promise of special help is given not with a view to ordinary 
 circumstances, but with reference to the exceptional case of 
 appearances before governors and kings. Their Inspirer and 
 Advocate is alternatively Jesus himself, as in Luke, or ' the Holy 
 Ghost' as in Mark. In ancient Jewish prophecy the possession 
 of the spirit of God, the spirit of the Lord, was one of the tokens 
 of the Messiah and the Messianic age (Isa. xi. 2, xlii. 1, lix. 21, 
 Ixi. 1; Mic. iii. 8; Joel ii. 28). The term 'holy spirit' occurs 
 in the O. T., but rarely (Ps. Ii. 11 ; Isa. lxiii. io, 11). It is also 
 found in the Book of Wisdom (i. 5). In the O. T. the 'spirit' is 
 
ST. MARK 13. 13 297 
 
 up brother to death, and the father his child; and children 
 shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to 
 death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's 13 
 sake : but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be 
 saved. 
 
 usually represented as a power proceeding from God and com- 
 municated by Him. In the two instances in which the particular 
 term ' holy spirit ' occurs, the meaning is larger and more 
 definite. In Ps. li. 11, the 'holy spirit' appears as the principle 
 or power of sanctification ; in Isa. lxiii. 10, 11 the 'holy spirit' 
 is a spirit in which God acts in some way personally, and that 
 is on the way to be conceived of as a personal power. But we 
 have not in the O. T. the full and definite doctrine of the personal 
 Spirit of God that is contained in the great N. T. phrase 'the 
 Holy Spirit' or 'Holy Ghost, 1 and has so large a place in the 
 distinctive teaching of the N. T. 
 
 12. brother shall deliver up brother. Terrors of consti- 
 tuted authorities are not the worst they have to face. They will 
 suffer from the more bitter and insidious persecution of friends, 
 from the cruel treacheries even of those related to them by the 
 closest ties of nature. 
 
 and cause them to be put to death : the margin of the R. V. 
 puts it simply and directly, ' put them to death.' But the idea 
 seems to be ' shall work their death,' and it is well expressed by the 
 Rhemish Version. In the Jewish councils they had scourging to 
 fear. But when they came into the hands of the Roman authorities 
 they should have to look for the death penalty. 
 
 13. ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. These 
 words are given in all three Gospels, and without variation. They 
 mean not only that the disciples shall be hated, but that they 
 shall continue to be hated. Their first and last offence, the 
 thing that shall constantly count against them beyond all else, 
 will be the fact that they are Christians. In Peter's Epistle to 
 the scattered Asiatic churches we already hear of suffering ' as 
 a Christian'' (i Pet. iv. i6 N ;. The early Christian writers speak, 
 one after another, of suffering ' for his name ' (Polycarp, Epistle to 
 Philippians. 8), of 'the name' being taken as sufficient evidence 
 against one (Justin Martyr, Apot. i. 4), of 'the confession of 
 the name ' being the one thing needed to bring public odium 
 on one (Tertull. Apol. 2). 
 
 he that endureth to the end. The phrase ' to the end ' 
 here docs not refer to the crisis of the end, the destruction of 
 Jerusalem or the end of things, of which the four had spoken. 
 It describeo the completeness of the endurance — an endurance 
 
298 ST. MARK 13. 14 
 
 14 But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing 
 
 sustained all through. The endurance in question also is not the 
 passive virtue of patience, in our sense of bearing things without 
 murmur or resistance, but the manlier and more positive grace 
 of perseverance or steadfastness. This grace has a large place in 
 the N.T., most especially in the Epistles of Paul and the Book 
 of Revelation (Jas. i. 3, 4 ; 1 Pet. ii. 20 ; Heb. xii. 1 ; Rom. v. 3, 
 &c, viii. 25 ; 1 Thess. i. 3 ; 2 Thess. i. 4, iii. 5 ; Rev. i. 9, ii. 2, 3, 
 ill. 10, xiii. 10, &c). Josephus uses it of the indomitable constancy 
 of the heroes of the Maccabean struggle (Antiq. xii. vi. 7). Luke 
 gives this part of our Lord's caution a notable turn — ' In your 
 patience ye shall win your souls ' (or, ' lives,' xxi. 19). 
 
 xiii. 14-23. The Sign of the Fall of Jerusalem : cf. Matt. xxiv. 
 15-25 ; Luke xxi. 20-24. 
 
 14. But when ye see the abomination of desolation. From 
 these personal warnings Jesus proceeds to speak next of the 
 event in which they may see the real ' sign ' of the end. Wars 
 and rumours of wars in connexion with other parts of the earth 
 are not to be made too much of. But when these touch the Holy 
 City they become significant. The ' abomination of desolation ' 
 is ' the abomination that causes desolation.' This expressive term 
 'abomination' occurs some half-dozen times in the N. T. (Matt. 
 xxiv. 15 ; Mark xiii. 14 ; Luke xvi. 15 ; Rev. xvii. 4, 5, xxi. 27). 
 In the O. T. it is used specially of things belonging to idolatrous 
 worship, e.g. to idols (Deut. xxix. 17), to false gods (Ezek. vii. 
 20). to Milcom in particular, 'the abomination of the Ammonites' 
 (1 Kings xi. 5), to the horrid rites of the heathen practised by Ahaz 
 (2 Kings xvi. 3). The precise phrase 'the abomination of desolation ' 
 here used by our Lord is one that occurs thrice in the Book of Daniel 
 (ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11) ; and that the Danielic passage is in view here 
 is expressly stated by Matthew, who adds the words ' which was 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet' (xxiv. 15). What is to be under- 
 stood by the phrase ? In the prophecy of Daniel it probably refers 
 to the outrages of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian conqueror, and 
 particularly to the desecration of the temple by placing a heathen 
 altar upon the altar of burnt-offering. In the Apocryphal literature 
 it is quoted in connexion with the erection of an altar to Jove in 
 the temple (r Mace. i. 54). But here it is applied to the desecration 
 of the Holy City and the temple by Rome. For Luke gives this 
 as an equivalent statement — ' when ye see Jerusalem compassed 
 with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand ' (xxi. 20). 
 The Roman eagles were objects of detestation as well as terror 
 to the Jew, because they bore the effigy of the emperor and had 
 sacrifice offered to them by the soldiery. The Roman armies 
 holding the Holy Cit3 T in their heathen grasp, the Roman eagles 
 
ST. MARK 13. 15-17 299 
 
 where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), 
 then let them that are in Judrea flee unto the mountains : 
 and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor 15 
 enter in, to take anything out of his house : and let him 16 
 that is in the field not return back to take his cloke. But 17 
 
 lifted over the site of the temple itself— these were ' the abomination 
 of desolation.' The R. V. adopts the reading 'standing where he 
 ought not,' instead of ' where it ought not ' — a reading which re- 
 presents the ' abomination ? as personal — concentrated in the Roman 
 soldiery or in the Roman leader. When this personal embodi- 
 ment of idolatrous, heathen power was seen there, 'standing 
 where he ought not,' that is, within the precincts of the temple, 
 the 'sign ' of the rapidly approaching ' end ' was to be recognized, 
 and the disciples could not too soon prepare for it. Josephus 
 states that the Romans brought their ensigns into the temple, 
 and placed them over against the eastern gate, and he adds that 
 'there they offered sacrifices to them, and with the loudest 
 acclamations proclaimed Titus emperor' (Jewish War, vi. vi. 1). 
 
 let him that readeth understand. This parenthetical 
 sentence is thrown in by the Evangelist himself, or it may be 
 by the compiler of a collection of the Lord's words used by Mark 
 in the composition of his Gospel, with the view of calling special 
 attention to this significant sentence of the prophetic discourse — 
 the sentence that indicates the i sign ' required. 
 
 let them that are in Judtea flee. Flight, instant flight 
 without tarrying or looking back, would then be the first duty of 
 the whole Judean people, not of the apostles only. The Christian 
 Jews, we know, did take flight to Pella in Peraea, one of the 
 towns of Decapolis, between Gerasa and Hippos. That was a 
 flight of about 100 miles, which took the fugitives across the hills 
 of Judaea and Moab. Eusebius says that this step was taken in 
 accordance with the warning of a prophetic oracle given to the 
 Christians of Jerusalem before the war began (Eccles. Hist. iii. 
 v. 3^. 
 
 15. on the housetop. The roofs of Eastern houses, which 
 were much frequented by the family, being used for purposes of 
 sleep, watching, prayer, worship, &c. (cf. 1 Sam. ix. 25 ; Neh. viii. 
 16; Isa. xxii. 1; Jer. xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5; Acts x. 9), were 
 reached by a flight of steps from without. In quitting them there 
 was no need to go within the house, and the fugitive in this great 
 peril was not safe to do so — not even with the view of taking any 
 of his goods with him, 
 
 16. to take his cloke. The labourer might be overtaken by this 
 desolation when he was at work in the fields, and if he would 
 
300 ST. MARK 13. 18-20 
 
 woe unto them that are with child and to them that give 
 
 18 suck in those days ! And pray ye that it be not in the 
 
 19 winter. For those days shall be tribulation, such as there 
 hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation 
 
 20 which God created until now, and never shall be. And 
 except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would 
 
 escape he could not risk the loss of time involved even in the 
 simple act of picking up his outer garment, which he had taken off 
 when he set himself to his task. 
 
 18. not in the winter : when rain and cold and storm would 
 make escape so much more difficult. Matthew adds i neither on 
 a sabbath' (xxiv. 20). The Jew was forbidden to travel on the 
 sabbath beyond a prescribed limit, a sabbath-day's journey, a 
 distance of about 2,000 ells. Even if Christian Jews overcame 
 their scruples in that matter, they would suffer from the opposition 
 of their strict fellow countrymen. When the crisis came in a.d. 69- 
 70 the Romans encircled the city in October — a season sufficiently 
 good for travel. The decisive operations of the siege were carried 
 through some six months later, in a part of the year which was 
 still more favourable. 
 
 19. Por those days shall be tribulation. A strong and signi- 
 ficant description of the terrors of that fateful time — the days 
 themselves would be one long tribulation. Josephus speaks of 
 the miseries of the siege of Jerusalem as surpassing the ' misfor- 
 tunes of all men from the beginning of the world,' 1 and draws a 
 harrowing picture of the densely crowded city, smitten by the 
 engines of war, rent by sedition, scourged by pestilence and 
 famine ; of its houses and streets filled with multitudes of the dead 
 too vast to be removed ; of the barbarities daily enacted in it, the 
 atrocities of remorseless assassins who stalked through it ; of its 
 miserable and famished inhabitants ground to the dust by cruel 
 hunger and all manner of violence and wretchedness, until they 
 became so dead to the instincts of humanity that mothers snatched 
 the food out of the mouths of husbands and children. Six hun- 
 dred corpses were thrown over the wall (Josephus, Jewish War, 
 vi. ix. 3). 
 
 20. except the Lord had shortened the days. That is, in His 
 own Divine counsel. We know from history that the siege began 
 early in the year 70 a. d. ; that decisive operations against the 
 section of the city containing the temple were commenced in 
 May ; that the tower of Antonia was taken on June 11 ; that the 
 temple was fired on July 15 ; that Titus entered the city about 
 September 12; and that the destruction of life during these months 
 
ST. MARK 13. ar, 22 301 
 
 have been saved : but for the elect's sake, whom he 
 chose, he shortened the days. And then if any man 21 
 shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ ; or, Lo, there ; 
 believe it not : for there shall arise false Christs and false 22 
 
 was so great that if the time had been prolonged none would have 
 been left alive. According to Josephus 97,000 of the besieged 
 actually survived all these horrors. But over 1, 100.000 perished 
 (Jewish War, v. iii. 1, vi. viii. 4, vi. ix. 3). 
 
 but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the 
 days. Josephus speaks of Titus as fired with a great eagerness 
 to bring the siege to an end, and tells us how in three days he sur- 
 rounded the city with a wall five miles long and planted with 
 strong garrisons. By these human instrumentalities, the vast 
 energy of the besiegers and the infatuations of the besieged. God 
 fulfilled His counsel in the shortening of the days, and did this for 
 the elect's sake. This great term of grace 'the elect' is not to be 
 thinned down into a mere equivalent for the righteous. The ' elect,' 
 indeed, are the good men in the nation, but they are more than 
 that — they are those whom God ' chose ! — the objects of His choice 
 and recognition in His eternal purpose. The word has a great 
 history in Scripture and a great place in the vocabulary of grace. 
 In the O. T. it designates those whom God has placed in a peculiar 
 relation to Himself, the covenant-people generally, or the true 
 Israel who are according to His purpose (Ps. cv. 6 ; Isa. xlii. 1 ; 
 xliii. 20, lxv. 9). In the N. T. it means God's chosen ones, the 
 select ones from among the ' called.' as in the Gospels, or, as in the 
 Epistles, those foreknown and predestinated by God and therefore 
 called (Rom. viii. 29, 30), those elect absolutely ("Rom. viii. 33), the 
 ' elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.' that is, 
 the elect whose choice out of the world has its foundation in 
 the Divine foreknowledge (1 Pet. i. 1, 2). 
 
 22. false Christs and false prophets. The warning against 
 false teachers (xiii. 6) is now repeated in fuller and more definite 
 terms. The time of the ' end ' is to be marked bj* the emergence 
 of religious impostors and deceivers assuming to be prophets and 
 Messiahs. The 'false Christ' or pseudo-Messiah is one who 
 pretends to be Messiah, as distinguished from the 'antichrist.' the 
 enemy of Christ, of whom John writes (1 John ii. 22. iv. 3; 
 2 John 7). The ' false prophets,' not unknown in O. T. times 
 (Zech. xiii. 2 ; 2 Pet. ii. i\ were a more frequent phenomenon 
 than the 'false Christs' in N. T. times, as we see by the case 
 of Bar-jesus (Acts xiii. 6) and the statement of John f t John iv. 2). 
 That they existed and constituted a source of danger and confusion 
 in the primitive Church appears from what is said in the earliest 
 
302 ST. MARK 13. 23, 24 
 
 prophets, and shall shew signs and wonders, that they 
 
 23 may lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take ye heed : 
 behold, I have told you all things beforehand. 
 
 24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall 
 
 Christian literature {Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 11). In the 
 Sermon on the Mount Jesus had already charged his disciples to 
 { beware of false prophets/ and had described them in scathing 
 terms as coming to the unwary ' in sheep's clothing ' while inwardly 
 they were ' ravening wolves ' (Matt. vii. 15 s ). 
 
 shall shew signs and wonders. This is an element of 
 greater danger, not noticed in the case of the impostors previously 
 referred to (xiii. 6). ' Signs and lying wonders ' are also mentioned 
 as part of the working of Satan in the ' lawless one ' who is to 
 come before the Second Advent of Christ (2 Thess. ii. 1-12). 
 ' Signs ' are things pointing beyond themselves to something else ; 
 'wonders' are portents, phenomena out of the common order 
 fcf. Exod. vii. 11, 22; also Deut. xiii. 1, xxviii. 46, xxix. 3, xxxiv. 11 ; 
 Ps. cxxxv. 9, &c). The miracles of our Lord are sometimes 
 called ' wonders ' in the N. T. , especially in the Book of Acts (ii. 
 22, 43, iv. 30, v. 12, vi. 8, xiv. 3, xv. 12), but elsewhere more 
 usually 'signs' and ' powers.' Josephus reports how false prophets 
 arose who persuaded multitudes to go with them into the desert to 
 see them work signs and wonders there. 
 
 if possible, the elect. Solemn, closing statement of the great- 
 ness of the peril from the imposing and insidious efforts of these 
 pseudo-Christs and pseudo-prophets. ' Even the elect ! ' — beyond 
 that boldness and mad endeavour cannot go. 
 
 23. But take ye heed. Third delivery of the same personal 
 charge. 
 
 xiii. 24-27. The End and the Coming of the Son of man \ cf. Matt. 
 xxiv. 29-31 ; Luke xxi. 25-28. 
 
 24. But in those days, after that tribulation. The ' tribula- 
 tion,' is the ' sign ' of the end. The f end ' itself now becomes the 
 subject, and the vision of the siege and fall of the Holy City passes 
 into that of the close of the existing dispensation and the second 
 Advent of Christ. In Luke there is no note of time to connect the 
 one event with the other. In Matthew the relation of the one to 
 the other is most definitely given as one of immediate sequence — 
 1 immediately after the tribulation of those days.' In Mark that 
 relation is given in more general terms. The 'end,' marked by 
 the personal coming of the Son of man, is not to precede the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, but to come 'after that tribulation,' yet 'in 
 those days.' Even in Mark, therefore, the ' end ' which is now fore- 
 told is described as belonging generally to the same critical and 
 
ST. MARK 13. 25, 26 303 
 
 be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 25 
 the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers 
 that are in the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall 26 
 they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great 
 
 momentous period in which the overthrow of the Jewish order 
 takes place. The latter event is given as the prelude of the former, 
 the removal of the old order which prepares for the entrance of 
 the new. 
 
 the sun shall be darkened. This portent and the others 
 which are mentioned belong, therefore, to the further ' end ' and 
 the Advent. The terms are not to be taken literally and particu- 
 larly, but in a wide and general sense. They are of the same 
 order as the large, imaginative terms of O. T. prophecy, the 
 symbolism of which they follow. The O. T. prophets emplo3 r ed 
 such imagery in their announcements of judicial interventions of 
 God in the history of nations, great political convulsions, the over- 
 throw of kingdoms, and exceptional changes of other kinds, such 
 as the dispensation of the Spirit in the last days (Joel ii. 28-32 ; 
 Acts ii. 16-21). ' The stars of heaven,' says Isaiah, 'and the con- 
 stellations thereof shall not give their light : the sun shall be dark- 
 ened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to 
 shine 1 (xiii. 10). This is the prophet's way of declaring the certain 
 overthrow of Babylon. So with the fall of Edom (xxxiv. 4). In the 
 same way, Amos speaks of the fall of the northern kingdom (viii. 9 . 
 And Ezekiel, when he foretells the doom of Egypt, does it in this 
 form — ' When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heaven, and 
 make the stars thereof dark ; I will cover the sun with a cloud, 
 and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of 
 heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy 
 land, saith the Lord God ' (xxxii. 7, 8). In each case extraordi- 
 nary physical phenomena, eclipses, earthquakes, and the like, are 
 the figures of Divine acts effecting great changes in Church or State, 
 and the terms are to be interpreted as the language of symbolism, 
 not of literal fact. 
 
 25. the powers that are in the heavens. That is, the heavenly 
 bodies generally, the same as the 'host' of the heavens in Isa. 
 x:;xiv. 4. Luke adds a description of the effect produced by these 
 portents on the spectators — ' men fainting for fear, and for ex- 
 pectation of the things which are coming on the world ' (xxi. 26). 
 
 26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming 1 . This 
 announcement of the actual coming is introduced in Matthew's 
 Gospel by the words ' and then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 man in heaven ' (xxiv. 30). This has been taken by some to mean 
 that the Advent of Christ will be heralded by a vision of the Cross 
 in the heavens. Others have sought to identify this sign with the 
 
3 o4 ST. MARK 13. 27, 28 
 
 27 power and glory. And then shall he send forth the 
 angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the utter- 
 most part of heaven. 
 
 28 Now from the fig tree learn her parable : when her 
 
 appearing of angels, or with the vision of the star of the Messiah, 
 as if the reference were to the prophecy of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 
 17). But this is beside the question. The thing that was to be 
 the signal of the coming is left undefined, and no clue is given 
 by which to identify it. 
 
 in clouds with great power and glory. The words take us 
 back to Daniel's vision of the coming ' with the clouds of heaven, 
 of one like unto a son of man ' (vii. 13). Daniel's vision referred to 
 the advent of the kingdom of God, the imperishable kingdom of 
 saints, the kingdom of the regenerate Israel that was to take the 
 place of the cruel, godless world-empires. The ' clouds ' are part 
 of the imagery which expresses the heavenly order of this new 
 kingdom. Elsewhere in the O. T. the l clouds ' are often used 
 as figures of the descent of God, and His intervention on 
 behalf of His people (cf. Isa. xix. 1 ; Ps. xviii. ir, 12, xcvii. 
 2 s ). The imagery is to be similarly understood here. But that 
 this Parousia or second coming is to be a real, objective event, 
 however difficult it may be to us to conceive it, appears to be 
 indicated with sufficient distinctness in various passages of the 
 , N. T. (Matt. xxiv. 3, 37, 39; 1 Thess. iii. 13, iv. 15, v. 23 ; 2Thess. 
 ii. 1 ; Jas. v. 7 ; 2 Pet. i. 16, iii. 4, &c). Here, too, Jesus 
 clearly identifies himself with the figure in Daniel's prophecy, and 
 the title ' Son of man ' by which he had designated himself with 
 the ' son of man' in Daniel. In him, therefore, the king of Israel 
 and the representative of man, and in his kingdom, was the 
 vision to have its highest and final fulfilment. 
 
 27. send forth, the angels. The 'ministering spirits sent forth 
 to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation | 
 (Heb. i. 14). Matthew adds 'with a great sound of a trumpet' 
 (xxiv. 31)— words recalling those used of the giving of the law 
 (Exod. xix. 16). 
 
 gather together his elect. The 'elect' are now claimed 
 as his own—' his elect,' the elect of the Son of man. The day 
 of his return will be the day of the gathering of all his own, and 
 the open manifestation of his kingdom in its completeness and 
 perfection (cf. 2 Thess. ii. 1). 
 
 xiii. 28-37. Lesson of the Fig-tree and Final Warnings \ cf. Matt. 
 xxiv. 32-42 ; Luke xxi. 29-36. 
 
 28. Now from the fig tree learn her parable. The fig-tree, 
 
ST. MARK 13. 29-32 305 
 
 branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, 
 ye know that the summer is nigh ; even so ye also, when 29 
 ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that he is 
 nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This 3° 
 generation shall not pass away, until all these things be 
 accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away : but 31 
 my words shall not pass away. But of that day or that 3 2 
 
 one of the commonest trees in the country, has already served as 
 the occasion for solemn warnings and counsels JVIark xi. 13. 14, 
 20-26). He makes a similar use of it again. ' Her parable,' that 
 is. the lesson she suggests. The 'parable' here is one of the class 
 of minor, partial parables, an illustration or analogy. 
 
 when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth 
 its leaves. This is the case of a fig-tree of ordinary growth, not 
 an abnormal specimen with a deceptive shew of leafage before the 
 proper time. The branches have their hard external covering soft- 
 ened or made 'tender' by the moistures of spring, and the sap 
 circulates freely through them. Then they begin to shew their 
 greenness, the leaves bursting their sheaths. That is the token 
 of the approach of summer, the earliest token of it. (Cf. Song of 
 Songs, ii. n-13). 
 
 29. so ye: the disciples should not be less discerning in their 
 particular sphere of things than the ordinary man is in the matter 
 of the seasons. 
 
 he is nigh : rather, ' it is nigh,' that is, the decisive event 
 referred to, left thus in its unexplained mystery and awe. 
 
 even at the doors. Cf. Jas. v. 9. His disciples ought to be 
 able to recognize the significance of the events spoken of, and 
 discern in them the beginnings of the consummation. 
 
 30. This generation shall not pass. The word ' generation ' is 
 to be taken in its usual sense, the sense which it has in Matt, 
 xxiii. 36 and in the Gospels generally — the body of men then 
 living. Jesus turns at this point from the question of the sign to 
 that of the time, and intimates that the things, all of them, of 
 which he has been speaking, would take place before his contem- 
 poraries should all have departed this life. Matthew and Luke 
 also give the statement practically in the same terms. 
 
 31. my words shall not pass away. Jesus had previously 
 claimed permanence for the law ^Matt. v. 18 ; Luke xvi. ^ r ^ s ). He 
 now claims for his own words a permanence more enduring than 
 heaven or earth is destined to have — an everlasting validity and 
 power. Cf. Isa. xl. 6-8, li. 68.1 Pet. i. 24, 25. 
 
 32. But of that day or that hour. The ' day ' and the 
 
3°6 ST. MARK 13. 33, 34 
 
 hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, 
 
 33 neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch 
 
 34 and pray : for ye know not when the time is. // is as 
 
 ' hour ' here are the time of the Lord's return — the conclusive, 
 judicial day, elsewhere called 'the day,' 'that da3'' (1 Thess. 
 v. 4 ; 1 Cor. iii. 13), * the last day ' (John v. 25, vi. 39, 40, 44, 54, 
 xi. 24), 'the day of wrath ' (Rom. ii. 5), 'the day when God shall 
 judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ ' (Rom. ii. 16), ' the day 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ' (j Cor. i. 8), 'the day of Jesus Christ' 
 (Phil. i. 6), 'the day of Christ 1 (Phil. i. 10, &c). 
 
 knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither 
 the Son. The precise time of this return is hidden from all but the 
 Father. It is one of the things he hath ' set within his own au- 
 thority ' (Acts i. 7). The negatives here are absolute and exclusive, 
 'no one, not even the angels, nor yet the Son.' That angelic know- 
 ledge is not unlimited is not difficult to understand, and it is in- 
 dicated elsewhere (Eph. iii. 10 ; 1 Pet. i. 12). But the peculiarity 
 of the present passage is that the Son himself is coupled with the 
 angels in this declaration of nescience. The declaration is made, 
 too, by the Son himself, and in terms most definite and unqualified. 
 It is the ascription of a real nescience, not of an ignorance operating 
 in one part of his personality and not in the other, nor an ignorance 
 simply assumed for a certain purpose while a real omnescience 
 remained latent, nor yet the pseudo-ignorance which meant that, 
 while he knew this particular thing as he knew all things, he had 
 no commission from his Father to communicate it to others. Nor 
 is there any difficulty in accepting the statement as it stands. The 
 limitation in knowledge was only a part of the larger and more 
 mysterious limitation implied in the Incarnation, and in that sub- 
 jection of our Lord to the ordinary laws of growth, physical, 
 mental, and moral, which is affirmed of him in the N. T. (Luke ii. 
 40, 52 ; Heb. v. 8). Nor is such a nescience as is here attributed 
 to him, a lack of knowledge of matters of times and seasons, 
 inconsistent in any way with his perfect sinlessness. There are 
 multitudes of things that are morally neutral, the knowledge or the 
 ignorance of which makes us neither better nor worse in the moral 
 nature. 
 
 33. Take ye heed, watch and pray. The disciples, therefore, 
 'know not when the time is,' and the Master cannot disclose it. 
 But this ignorance has its spiritual purpose and use. It should be 
 an incentive to watchfulness and prayer, and so to the sedulous 
 cultivation of the mind that will be ready for the Lord's pres- 
 ence at any time. The word used here for 'watch' means 
 properly 'keep awake,' 'yield not to sleep,' and is used with 
 reference to work as well as to prayer (Heb. xiii. 17 ; Eph. vi. 18). 
 
ST. MARK 13. ;,5-37 3°7 
 
 when a man, sojourning in another country, having left 
 his house, and given authority to his servants, to each 
 one his work, commanded also the porter to watch. 
 Watch therefore : for ye know not when the lord of the 35 
 house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at 
 cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly .6 
 he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say 37 
 unto all, Watch. 
 
 34. It is as when a man, sojourning in another country. 
 
 Another partial parable or illustration, like the one taken from the 
 fig, enforcing the need of watchfulness. That this is but one of 
 various parables spoken at this time appears from Matt, xxiv, xxv. 
 This one refers to the case of a man 'away from home,' as the 
 word means, on his travels, and the special charge given to the 
 ' porter ' when each of the servants had his own proper work 
 assigned him. In the * lord of the house,' no doubt, wc are to see 
 Christ himself leaving the earthly scene of his ministry, departing 
 to his Father, and returning to earth again after an interval left 
 undefined. But it is to go beyond the simple and immediate object 
 of the parable to draw distinctions between the servants and the 
 potter, as if by the former Jesus had in view the disciples or the 
 Church generally, and by the latter specifically the apostolate or 
 the Christian ministry as the body ' to whom specially belongs 
 the responsibility of guarding the house, and of being ready to 
 open the door to the Master at his return ' (Swete\ 
 
 35. whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing 1 , 
 or in the morning-: that is, ' at any part of day or night.' The 
 Roman distribution of the twenty-four hours into four watches 
 is followed here, only that instead of the usual terms first, second, 
 third, fourth watch, popular terms are used. Matthew and Luke 
 use more general language here. But the latter in his report of 
 an earlier declaration represents Jesus as speaking of the 'second 
 watch,' and ' the third ' (xii. 38"). 
 
 36. suddenly. . . sleeping. This is a recurrent note in warnings 
 or instructions relating to the Second Advent (ci. Matt. xxv. 5 ; 
 Rom. xiii. ir ; 1 Thess. v. 6). It is possible that the familiar police 
 arrangements maintained in the temple are in view in the terms of 
 this warning. Watchmen moved about the temple night and day ; 
 a body of Levites did the duty of watching by night at twenty- 
 one point?, according to the Mishna, and the captain of the temple 
 went his rounds to see that the guards were not asleep ; he might 
 come at any hour and surprise those in charge. 
 
 37. unto » l Watch. This supreme duty of wakeful vigilance is 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 ST. MARK 14. i 
 
 14 Now after two days was the feast of the passover and 
 
 enjoined once more, and the Master's last word solemnly gives it 
 as a duty applicable not to one class, but to all. Matthew intro- 
 duces here the great parables of the Ten Virgins, the Talents, 
 and the Judgement, inculcating the same lesson of the need of 
 watchfulness, and with that the need of faithfulness, diligence, 
 and service. 
 
 The Discourse on the End. The interpretation of this discourse 
 is by no means easy. It is to be remembered, however, that it is 
 given as a reply to two plain questions ; that it is to be taken, 
 therefore, as a plain answer conveyed in terms which the in- 
 terrogators could understand ; and that it is to be read in the 
 light of the familiar ideas and forms of expression characteristic 
 of O. T. prophecy and Jewish Apocalypses. In the fuller version 
 given in Matthew it is clear that the questions and the answer 
 were not confined to the one event of the destruction of Jerusalem 
 and the temple, but embraced the further end — the return of 
 Christ and the close of the whole existing order of things (xxiv. 3). 
 The discourse, as we have it in Mark, appears to have the same 
 scope, and cannot be adequately dealt with on the supposition that 
 nothing more is in view than the fall of Jerusalem. The disciples 
 connected the second coming of Christ and the end of the world 
 or ' the consummation of the age ' with the destruction of the 
 Holy City and its temple, and in this discourse these events are 
 placed in relation to each other as antecedent and consequent, 
 although the precise 'day' or 'hour' is left undisclosed. This is 
 in accordance with the genius of O. T. prophecy, which places 
 things in conjunction which are essentially or causally connected, 
 although they may prove to be separated in point of time. The 
 language also in which this discourse runs is of the nature of 
 the large, hyperbolical terms used by the O. T. prophets in their 
 announcements of retributive events, the overthrow of the enemies 
 of the theocracy, &c. The imagery, therefore, is not to be taken 
 literally. Least of all is it to be supposed that the prophecy must 
 have a fulfilment in actual physical phenomena when it speaks of 
 the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, the 
 shaking of the powers in the heavens, and the like. 
 
 xiv. 1-2. Schemes of the Ecclesiastical Authorities : cf. Matt. xxvi. 
 1-5 ; Luke xxii. 1-2. 
 
 14. after two days : that is, ' the next day,' or ' on the second 
 day ' ; as in Hosea the ' after two days ' is distinguished from 
 1 on the third day ' (vi. 2). This will make the day the thirteenth 
 of Nisan, Wednesday of Passion Week. 
 
 the feast of the passover. The word 'passover' means 
 sometimes the paschal lamb which was killed an.' eaten on the 
 
ST. MARK 14. 2, 3 309 
 
 the unleavened bread : and the chief priests and the 
 scribes sought how they might take him with subtilty, 
 and kill him : for they said, Not during the feast, lest 2 
 haply there shall be a tumult of the people. 
 
 And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon 3 
 
 fourteenth of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, in memory 
 of the day when the Israelites were bidden to prepare to quit Egypt 
 (Exod. xii ; Num. ix ; Deut. xvi\ as in Mark xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 
 7 ; sometimes the paschal supper, as in Mark xiv. 16 ; Luke xxii. 8, 
 13 ; sometimes the paschal festival, the memorial feast lasting 
 from the fourteenth to the twentieth of Nisan, as here and in 
 Matt. xxvi. 2 ; Luke ii. 41, xxii. 1 : John ii. 13, 23, vi. 4, &c. 
 
 and the unleavened bread. The term rendered 'unleavened 
 bread ' is used sometimes of the unfermented loaves which the 
 Israelites ate for seven days in commemoration of their departure 
 from Egypt Exod. xxiii. 15 ; Lev. xxiii. 6), as in Matt. xxvi. 17; 
 Mark xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 1, 7 ; sometimes of the paschal festival 
 itself, as here. The peculiarity of the present passage is that the 
 festival is designated by the double title, specifying both the in- 
 troductory meal and the seven days of unleavened bread. This 
 commemorative festival was an eight da3's' feast, beginning with 
 the paschal meal and continuing through seven days of restriction 
 to unfermented bread. 
 
 sought how they might take him with subtilty. Matthew 
 says ' the chief priests, and the elders of the people ' (xxvi. 3\ 
 The meeting, therefore, included all three orders in the Sanhedrin, 
 and its object was to devise some crafty scheme by which the}" 
 might get Jesus into their hands without awakening popular 
 opposition. From Matthew (xxvi. 3 s ) we learn that this consulta- 
 tion took place in the court of Caiaphas, the high priest. 
 
 2. Not during the feast. Their plan was to keep clear of 
 the passover feast in any action they might take. They must 
 cither act at once, therefore, as the passover began next day, or 
 delay till the seven days of the feast were over. 
 
 lest haply there shall be a tumult. This was the reason 
 for their 'subtilty' and for their wish to keep clear of the feast. 
 They knew that the mass of the people, mostly from Galilee, who 
 were about him at present were on his side, and they dreaded 
 to raise their opposition. Once let the feast be over and these 
 multitudes of sympathizers scattered to their homes, and the 
 danger of a tumult would be less. 
 
 xiv. 3-9. The Anointing at Bethany: cf. Matt. xxvi. 6-13; 
 John xii. 2-8. The narratives in Matthew, Mark, and John 
 
310 ST. MARK 14. 3 
 
 appear clearty to refer to one and the same occasion. There is 
 a difference indeed in the chronological connexion, John placing 
 the supper six days before the Passover, and the Synoptists intro- 
 ducing their account of it along with circumstances belonging to a 
 period several days later. Hence, some have concluded that there 
 were two suppers, one given by Lazarus at the earlier date, and 
 another by Simon at the later. But the difference in position can 
 be otherwise explained. In Luke's Gospel we have also a narrative 
 of an anointing by the hands of a woman (Luke vii. 36-50), which 
 has a general resemblance to this, and in which the host bears, as 
 here, the name of Simon. Many have taken the four narratives, 
 therefore, to be simply four versions of one and the same incident. 
 But the differences are considerable. The incident in Luke is 
 introduced at a much earlier point of the narrative, and seems to 
 belong to an earlier period in the ministry of Jesus. The person, 
 too, who performs the lavish act of gratetul love is very far from 
 being presented in the same light in Luke's account as in the 
 others. In Luke she is described as ' a woman which was in the 
 city, a sinner ' ; in the first two Gospels she is designated simply 
 ' a woman,' and has no stigma attached to her ; and in the Fourth 
 Gospel she is ' Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.' And there 
 is no reason for identifying Mary of Bethai^ with 'the woman 
 which was in the city,' or for attaching to the former the character 
 of the latter. 
 
 3. while he was in Bethany. Matthew and Mark agree in 
 introducing the report of this incident immediately after the 
 meeting of the scheming ecclesiastical authorities. John brings 
 in his account immediately before that of the Triumphal Entry 
 into Jerusalem. John's order has been accepted by most as 
 representing the actual historical relation. Nor do the first two 
 Gospels give any very explicit indication of the time, confining 
 themselves as they do to the general statement that the incident 
 took place when Jesus was in Bethany. The introduction of the 
 anointing in the heart of events belonging to Passion Week might 
 naturally suggest that it also fell within that period. It is possible 
 at the same time that the position given it in Matthew and Mark 
 is due to other than chronological considerations— to the desire, it 
 may be, to place alongside the story of the treachery of Judas the 
 occurrence which brought out his grudging, covetous nature, and 
 perhaps prompted the course he took. 
 
 Simon the leper. Simon was a common Jewish name. This 
 Simon is distinguished from others by the title ' the leper,' he 
 being probably a cured leper, perhaps one of those healed by 
 Jesus. Nothing more is said of him. Some imagine him to have 
 been the deceased head of the family, or the husband of Martha, 
 or some other relative of the sisters. The terms indeed are so 
 general as to leave it uncertain whether the Simon who is named 
 
ST. MARK 14. 3 3U 
 
 the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having 
 an alabaster cruse of ointment of spikenard very costly ; 
 
 was the host on this occasion, or even whether he was present or 
 had any connexion with the event beyond that of being owner of 
 the house. 
 
 sat at meat. That is, ' reclined at meat.' The historical books 
 of the O. T. indicate that sitting was the usual Hebrew posture at 
 meals (Gen. xxvii. 19; Judges xix. 6; 1 Sam. xx. 5, 24 ; 1 Kings 
 xiii. 20"). In course of time the practice of sitting gave way to 
 that of reclining on couches. This latter custom had come in at 
 least as early as the time of the eighth-century prophets, and had 
 already been associated with luxurious habits. Amos delivers 
 woes against those who • lie upon beds of ivory and stretch 
 themselves upon their couches' (vi. 4). In our Lord's time it 
 was the universal habit. The Greeks and Romans also in course 
 of time gave up the sitting at meals of which we read in Homer 
 (II. x. 578, Od. i. 145) for the recumbent position, except in the 
 case of women and children. The reclining posture was taken 
 over perhaps from the Babylonians and Syrians, who appear to 
 have adopted it in early times. 
 
 a woman. The Synoptists do not give her name. In John's 
 account Martha of Bethany serves, and Mary anoints the Master. 
 
 an alabaster cruse. Or, 'a flask,' as in the margin of the 
 R. V. The 'box' of the A. V. is less correct. Literally it is 'an 
 alabaster,' that name being given to vases used for the holding of 
 unguents, because they were often made of that material. One 
 Egyptian town, famous for its quarries of alabaster, bore the name 
 of Alabastron. The alabaster of the ancients was different from 
 what is known as alabaster among us, not a sulphate of lime, but 
 a stalagmitic carbonate of lime. It was supposed to preserve the 
 aroma of the perfumes. 
 
 of spikenard: lit. 'of pistic nard,' a doubtful phrase, taken 
 by some to mean Pistic nard, with reference to the locality where 
 it was obtained; by others, 'bearded' or 'spiked' nard, and so 
 ' spikenard ' as in the A. V. and the old English Versions ; by 
 others, ' liquid ' or ' potable ' nard ; but by most, genuine, pure 
 nard, in contrast with the psc it do- nard, an adulterated article which 
 is known to have been sold (Pliny, Nat. Hist. xii. 26). This ' nard ' 
 was the essential oil of an Indian plant, a species of Valerian, 
 known among the Arabs as the Indian Spike, and grown, according 
 to Sir William Jones, ' in the most remote and hilly parts of India, 
 such as Nepal. Morang, and Butan, near which Ptolemy fixes its 
 native soil' (JVorks, v. p. 44). In the O. T. it is mentioned only 
 in the Song of Songs (i. 12, iv. 13, 14) ; in the N. T. only here and 
 in John xii. 3. 
 
 very costly. It was perhaps the costliest of all the fragrant 
 
312 ST. MARK 14. 4 , 5 
 
 and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head. 
 
 4 But there were some that had indignation among them- 
 selves, saying, To what purpose hath this waste of the 
 
 5 ointment been made ? For this ointment might have 
 been sold for above three hundred pence, and given to 
 
 oils of the ancient world. Horace promises Vergil a whole cask of 
 wine for a small onj r x of nard (Carm. iv. xii. 16, 17". Herodotus 
 tells us it was one of the gifts sent by Cambyses to the Ethiopians 
 (iii. 20). 
 
 brake the cruse. Some think this means only that she broke 
 the seal. But it seems rather to mean that she broke the narrow 
 neck of the flask itself, so that the entire contents might be spent 
 on the Master, and nothing reserved for any commoner use. 
 
 over his head. In John's narrative Mary anoints the feet of 
 Jesus. It may be that the perfume, poured in a lavish gush upon 
 the head, streamed down upon the feet, or that head and feet 
 were anointed in turn. The anointing of the head was a customary 
 act of attention on the part of a host to his guest (cf. Ps. xxiii. 5 ; 
 Luke vii. 46) or of goodwill to visitors, as in the case of the captives 
 of Judah who were anointed before they were sent back (2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 15). To anoint the feet was an unusual act, a token of 
 deepest humility and veneration, reserved for the greatest, and 
 said not to have been known even among the Roman emperors till 
 Nero's time. 
 
 4. there were some. Matthew says they were ' the disciples ' 
 (xxvi. 8). John speaks of Judas as the murmurer (xii. 4). 
 
 had indignation among themselves. The feeling of the 
 disciples is expressed by the same strong term as was used of 
 the 'indignation' of Jesus himself in the case of the interference 
 of the disciples with those who brought the children to be touched 
 (x. J4). The indignation of these ' some ' did not express itself in 
 any formal or public manner. It was confined to grumblings that 
 went from mouth to mouth among themselves. 
 
 this waste. To use the nard in this prodigal way was in 
 their view simple 'destruction.' The judgement of a calculating 
 utilitarian spirit, blind to the higher values of love. 
 
 5. three hundred pence. That is, three hundred denarii or 
 shillings, or from £10 to £12, in nominal value, but much more, 
 from three to six times more ; in actual purchasing power. The 
 vase, John tells us, contained ' a pound,' a Roman pound (xii. 3! 
 
 given to the poor. As we may infer from Mark vi. 37, the 
 sum would have fed some thousands. To think of the hungry 
 poor in Jerusalem, and what the money might have done for 
 
ST. MARK 114. 6-8 3T3 
 
 the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus 6 
 said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath 
 wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor 7 
 always with you, and whensoever ye will ye can do them 
 good : but me ye have not always. She hath done what 8 
 she could : she hath anointed my body aforehand for the 
 
 them ! So the grudging temper finds specious arguments by which 
 to justify itself and give its meanness the colour of charity. 
 
 6. murmured against her. They did not venture to say an) r - 
 thingof him and his allowance of the ' waste ' ; but with her it was 
 different. Their indignation, which at first had been but muttered, 
 now broke out into open and vehement expression. 
 
 a good work. ' Good ' in the sense of excellent, seemly. It , 
 was a deed of moral beauty, made so by the spirit of ungrudging | 
 love that prompted it. * 
 
 7. For ye have the poor always with you. The Master him- 
 self becomes her apologist, and in vindicating her act he also 
 adjusts duty to duty. Kindness to the poor is a primary duty in 
 his kingdom, and one never to be neglected. Yet there may be 
 duties to which even it must give place for a time. When a conflict 
 of duties arises, it is to be settled by the simple principle that the . 
 one which can be done only then shall have precedence over that 
 which can be done at any time. The clause ' and whensoever 
 ye will ye can do them good ' is peculiar to Mark. 
 
 me ye have not always. A simple but pathetic reminder of 
 what he had told them once and again — the fact that he was to 
 die. The beauty of the woman's act, therefore, was seen also 
 in its timeliness. Love has its own insight into the times and 
 seasons for things, and makes its way by unerring instinct through 
 all difficulties of competing duties and the fitnesses of things. 
 
 8. She hath done what she could. The measure of ability is 
 the measure of merit ; this woman had the praise of doing all that 
 either means or opportunity made it possible for her to do. It is 
 ' utmost love recognizing love's utmost ' (Clarke). This sentence 
 also is peculiar to Mark. 
 
 anointed my body. In the case of death it was customary 
 among the Jews to wash the body and then, as was also done 
 by the Egyptians, to apply spices and unguents. It was an exter- 
 nal application, and so was distinguished from the Egyptian 
 process of embalming (cf. Mark xvi. i; Luke xxiii. 56; John 
 xix. 40). That it did not prevent decomposition appears from 
 John xi. 3Q ; for we cannot imagine the ceremony to have been 
 omitted in the case of Lazarus. 
 
 aforehand for the tmrying : lit. ' with a view to its prepara- 
 
314 ST. MARK 14, 9 , 10 
 
 9 burying. And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the 
 gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, 
 that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken 
 of for a memorial of her. 
 i° And Judas Iscariot, he that was one of the twelve, went 
 away unto the chief priests, that he might deliver him 
 
 tion for burial.' So in Matthew it is — f she did it to prepare me 
 for burial ' (xxvi. 12). John gives it somewhat differently — 
 i suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying' (xii. 7). It 
 is not too much to suppose that the woman herself may have done 
 what she did with a conscious anticipation of his death. Love's 
 insight is a prophetic insight, and to this woman's love the words 
 which Jesus spoke regarding his Passion may have had a meaning 
 which they had not even to the Twelve. If her act had no such 
 conscious purpose, Jesus interpreted it for her and put upon it 
 I a value beyond what she herself had thought of. His love makes 
 I more of his servants' deeds than they themselves see in them. 
 
 9. Wheresoever the gospel shall he preached throughout 
 the whole world. The world-wide extension of the Gospel had 
 already been declared to be a thing as certain as is the Divine 
 purpose (xiii. 10). As wide as the preaching of the Gospel, so 
 wide should be the fame of this deed ; and it is this preaching 
 of the Gospel that secures the fulfilment of that prediction. 
 
 for a memorial of her. To make her remembered for ever 
 among men. Cf. the memorials which were to make Cornelius 
 remembered by God (Acts x. 4). No deed that has found a place 
 in the Gospel narratives has such a commendation pronounced in 
 it, or such a prophecy spoken of it. Matthew and Mark agree 
 in recording this unexampled announcement. It is not noticed by 
 John in his parallel narrative ; nor is any such prediction con- 
 nected with the similar deed reported by Luke in the case of the 
 woman ' which was in the city.' 
 
 xiv. 10, 11. Compact betiveen Judas and the Chief Priests : cf. 
 Matt. xxvi. 14-16 ; Luke xxii. 3-6. 
 
 10. Judas Iscariot. In Mark's Gospel Judas is mentioned 
 only in the list of the apostles (iii. 19), and twice in this chapter 
 
 (10, 43). 
 
 one of the twelve. A designation of tragic moment, attached 
 to Judas, not only in the Synoptists, but, in somewhat different 
 terms, in John (xii. 4) and Acts (i. 17), marking him out as the 
 notorious man and sharpening the idea of his guilt. 
 
 went away unto the chief priests. He knew who were 
 the most influential parties in matters of this kind, the chief priests 
 
ST. MARK 14. ii 315 
 
 unto them. And they, when they heard it, were glad, n 
 and promised to give him money. And he sought how 
 he might conveniently deliver him unto them, 
 
 rather than the scribes, and he went off privately to them. He 
 ma}' have found them still in Caiaphas's court where they had 
 been scheming (xiv. 1). From Luke we see that the 'captains,' 
 the heads of the temple police, were also consulted, being probably 
 with the chief priests xxii. 4 . 
 
 that he might deliver him. He went with the express 
 purpose of betraying Jesus. What is the explanation of this deed 
 of treachery? Some have attempted to soften Judas's guilt b3 r 
 supposing that all he had in view was to hasten the action of Jesus 
 in the establishment of his Messianic kingdom, by bringing on him 
 the compulsion of a popular rising. But of this there is no hint 
 in the narratives. Others think he was prompted by melancholy, 
 induced by the disappointment of his carnal expectations, or by 
 ivonnded ambition, or by shipwrecked faith, or by resentment caused 
 by the rebuke given him and the detection of his true character at 
 the supper in Bethany (John xii. 6-9). But the Gospels themselves 
 point onfyto two causes— Satanic temptation (Luke xxii. 3 ; John xiii. 
 2, 27\ and avarice. He was selected to manage the money affairs of 
 Jesus and the Twelve perhaps for his practical, business capacity. 
 But he abused his trust (John xii. 6), and finallj' betrayed his 
 Master, the fatal vice of greed having been in him from the 
 beginning, and having been allowed to feed on the opportunities 
 offered it, until at last it made him blind to every other con- 
 sideration. 
 
 11. they, when they heard it, were glad. They had reason 
 to be so. They needed no longer either to scheme or to think of 
 delay. The means of giving effect to their fell purpose were put 
 into their hands sooner than they had dreamt of, before the 
 Passover, with all its risks of a popular rising, began. 
 
 promised to give him money. The exact sum is recorded 
 neither by Mark nor by Luke. Matthew, however, who also 
 represents Judas as asking how much the authorities would give 
 him. mentions that it was thirty pieces of silver, and that these 
 were weighed unto him (xxvi. 15). Coined money had been in 
 circulation at least from about 143 B.C., the time of Simon the 
 Maccabee ; but the ancient custom of weighing money seems to 
 have been continued, especially in the case of sums paid out of the 
 temple treasury, and these 'pieces' would be shekels of the 
 sanctuary (see Meyer on Matt. xxvi. 5). The whole sum would 
 amount to less than £4. It is the sum mentioned in Zochariah's 
 prophecy (xi. i2\ It was also the price of a slave fKxod. xxi. 32). 
 A small sum truly, if it was the whole and not simply so much 
 
Si6 ST. MARK 14. 12, 13 
 
 12 And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they 
 sacrificed the passover, his disciples say unto him, Where 
 wilt thou that we go and make ready that thou mayest 
 
 13 eat the passover? And he sendeth two of his disciples, 
 and saith unto them, Go into the city, and there shall 
 
 paid down on the spot, to content any one, especially an avari- 
 cious man like Judas. 
 
 he sought how he might conveniently deliver him. Luke 
 adds ' in the absence of the multitude,' or, 'without tumult' (xxii. 6). 
 The risk of a rising on the part of the people was what the chief 
 priests were seeking to avoid. With the price of his treachery 
 in his purse Judas went back to those he had left for the time, 
 and watched his chance. The chief priests needed no longer to 
 scheme. There was one now in the inner circle who had oppor- 
 tunities they had not, and it was for him now to devise the means 
 and find the occasion. 
 
 xiv. 12-16. Preparations for the Passover Meal: cf. Matt. xxvi. 
 17-19 ; Luke xxii. 7-13. 
 
 12. on the first day of unleavened bread. Luke calls it 
 simply 'the day of unleavened bread 1 (xxii. 7). That is the 
 fourteenth Nisan, beginning after sunset of the thirteenth. In 
 post-Exilic times it was customary for the head of the family 
 to search the house with a lighted candle on the evening of the 
 thirteenth Nisan in quest of leaven. On the fourteenth the eating 
 of unleavened bread was suspended, the abstention beginning 
 before noon. That day was also called 'the Preparation' (Matt. 
 xxvii. 62 ; Mark xv. 42 ; Luke xxiii. 54 ; John xix. 14, 31, 42). 
 
 when they sacrificed the passover. This further definition 
 is given (with some slight variation) by all three Synoptists. On 
 certain occasions the Paschal lamb was killed by the Levites 
 (a Chron. xxx. 15, xxxv. 6 ; Ezra vi. 20), but usually by the head 
 of the family (Exod. xii. 6). It was done in the court of the 
 priests with a considerable ceremonial. The killing and the 
 eating took place on the fourteenth Nisan (Exod. xii. 6; Lev. xxiii. 
 5 ; Num. ix. 3, &c). 
 
 Where wilt thou that we g*o and make ready ? The pre- 
 parations that had to be made were considerable, embracing the 
 providing of place, victim, unleavened cakes, wine, water, the 
 bitter herbs — lettuce, endive, chicory, horehound. and the like — 
 the sauce called C/iaroset//, the roasting of the lamb, the setting 
 out of the table, &c. 
 
 13. two of his disciples. Luke tells us they were Peter and 
 John (xxii. 8). They are sent into Jerusalem. 
 
ST. MARK 14. 14-17 317 
 
 meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water : follow him ; 
 and wheresoever he shall enter in, say to the goodman 14 
 of the house, The Master saith, Where is my guest- 
 chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 
 And he will himself shew you a large upper room furnished 15 
 and ready : and there make ready for us. And the 16 
 disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found 
 as he had said unto them : and they made ready the 
 passover. 
 
 And when it was evening he cometh with the twelve. 17 
 
 a man bearing 1 a pitcher of water. Probably a servant of 
 the house. To carry water was usually the woman's work. But 
 it was alto the slave's task (Deut. xxix. 11 ; Josh. ix. 11). It 
 would be easier to recognize a man thus employed, sent no doubt 
 to fetch water from Siloam for the sacred uses of the Passover. 
 On his return he would cross the path of the two disciples who 
 came in from the other side, and as they followed him he ' would 
 act as an unconscious guide through the net-work of narrow and 
 unfamiliar streets to the appointed place' (Swete). 
 
 14. The Master saith, Where is my guest-chamber? ' My 
 guest-chamber,' that is, 'the lodging destined for me.' This was 
 the simple message with which the two were charged, and they 
 were to deliver it to ' the goodman of the house ' himself. 
 
 15. he will himself shew yon. The Master of the house was 
 himself to make all things right for them. They were to be 
 shewn a 'large upper room,' a chamber suitable for the occasion 
 and for the number that was to come, and all ' furnished and 
 ready,' that is, provided with the necessary table and carpets or 
 divans. The householder's ready reception of the two messengers, 
 and his shewing them at once the place prepared, are the acts 
 surely of a disciple. 
 
 16. and found as he had said. This was the second occasion 
 during the Passion Week that the disciples had this experience. 
 
 xiv. 17-21. The Paschal Supper: cf. Matt. xxvi. 20-25; Luke 
 xxii. 14, 21-23 ; John xiii. 2, 21-30. 
 
 17. when it was evening. By the original appointment the 
 Paschal lamb was to be eaten at night (Exod. xii. 8\ It was to 
 be slain "at even,' 'between the two evenings,' as the Hebrew 
 puts it (Exod. xii. 6). The custom was not to kill it till after the 
 evening sacrifice was offered. 
 
 with the twelve. The two, therefore, seem to have returned 
 
318 ST. MARK 14. 18-20 
 
 iS And as they sat and were eating. Jesus said, Verily I say 
 unto you, One of you shall betray me, even he that eateth 
 
 19 with me. They began to be sorrowful, and to say unto 
 
 20 him one by one, Is it I ? And he said unto them, 
 
 by this time, and Judas also. All were once more in Jerusalem, 
 Jesus having come again from the mount of Olives, probably as 
 the sun was setting. ' It was the last day-view which the Lord 
 had of the Holy City — till his Resurrection ' (Edersheim, The 
 Temple audits Services, p. 195). The lamb had to be wholly con- 
 sumed (Exod. xii. 46). It was provided, therefore, that if any 
 household was ' too little for a lamb ' it was to join with another 
 i,Exod. xii. 4). It came to be recognized that a Paschal gathering 
 should not consist of less than ten guests (Josephus, Jewish War, 
 vi. ix. 3). 
 
 18. as they sat: or rather, 'reclined.' Originally the Paschal 
 lamb was to be eaten standing (Exod. xii. n). But the standing 
 posture had long been given up for the recumbent position which 
 was usual at other meals. 
 
 One of you shall betray me. A new note, and one of 
 darkest meaning, in his announcements. At least on one earlier 
 occasion, indeed, a hint of evil within the apostolic circle itself 
 had fallen from his lips. In the synagogue of Capernaum, on the 
 occasion of the falling away of many disciples, he had put the 
 ominous question to the Twelve — 'Did not I choose you the twelve, 
 and one of you is a devil?' (John vi. 70). At the supper, too, 
 according to John, after he had washed the disciples' feet, he 
 spoke the significant words, 'ye are clean, but not all,' and referred 
 to the fulfilment of the Scripture, ' he that eateth my bread lifted 
 up his heel against me ' (John xiii. 10, 18). But the most distinct 
 intimation of the terrible fact that other hands than those of hostile 
 Jewish and Roman officials were to be concerned with his delivery 
 and death, is made at this point according to Matthew (xxvi. 21 ), 
 as well as Mark. The words ' even he that eateth with me ' are 
 given only by Mark. They refer, no doubt, to the Psalm (xii. 9) 
 from which John records Jesus to have quoted a verse (xiii. 18). 
 
 19. began to be sorrowful. At these dark words the joy of 
 the Paschal meal was turned at once into pain and doubt. 
 
 to say unto him one by one, Is it I ? or rather, ' surely 
 it is not I, is it?' On the instant each thinks of himself, and of 
 the possibility of the words pointing to him — but with the tone 
 of incredulity and in expectation of an assurance to the contrary. 
 None of them, strange to say. thinks of Judas, or says, ' Is it he 
 there?' But Judas himself, as we gather from Matthew (xxvi. 
 25), was not ashamed to ask as the others had done, ' Is it I ? ' 
 
ST. MARK 14. 21 319 
 
 // is one of the twelve, he that dippeth with me in the 
 dish. For the Son of man goeth, even as it is written 21 
 of him : hut woe unto that man through whom the Son 
 of man is betrayed ! good were it for that man if he had 
 not been born. 
 
 20. he that dippeth with me in the dish. To dip into the 
 same dish with another was a token of intimate friendship, as is 
 seen in the invitation of Bonz to Ruth at meal-time (Ruth ii. 14). 
 The dish in view here was probably the Charoscth, the peculiar 
 sauce, made of vinegar, figs, dates, almonds, and spice, used at the 
 Passover. Travellers tell us that the few remaining Samaritans. 
 when they celebrate the Passover on the top of Gerizim, 'hand 
 to the stranger a little olive-shaped morsel of unleavened bread 
 inclosing a green fragment of wild endive or some other bitter 
 herb, which may resemble, except that it is not dipped in the dish, 
 the very " sop " which Judas received at the hands of Christ ' 
 (Farrar's Life of Christ, ii. p. 290). Comparing John's account we 
 see that when Jesus spoke of one of the Twelve as betraying him, 
 the disciples cast perplexed looks one upon another; that John, 
 at Peter's suggestion, asked Jesus directly who was meant ; that 
 Jesus, who reclined probably between Peter and John, having the 
 latter nearest his ear, replied that it was he to whom he was about 
 to give the sop. (John xiii. 22, 24-26.) This then was the sign — 
 the selection of Judas to receive one of the pieces of bread which 
 it was customary for the Master of the feast at a certain point to 
 dip into the Charoscth and give to the party. 
 
 21. the Son of man goeth. This simple, solemn word 'go' is 
 repeatedly used by John with reference to the death of Jesus 
 (John viii. 14, 21, xiii. 3, 33, xiv. 4), 
 
 even as it is written : or, as Luke gives it, ' as it hath been 
 determined.' The departure of Jesus to his death was no mere 
 accident in his career, nor simply the result of that collision with 
 the world to which all prophets and righteous men are subject, 
 but an event which meant the fulfilment of the purpose of God and 
 His testimony in Scripture. 
 
 but woe unto that man. The deed of Judas was the work 
 neither of chance nor of necessity. The counsel of God fulfilled 
 itself even in his treachery. But that counsel neither superseded 
 the free action and responsibility of Judas nor relieved him of his 
 guilt. (Cf. Acts ii. 23.) 
 
 g-oort vsre it for that man if he had not been born. Words 
 suggestive jf a dread condemnation and an inexpressible doom. 
 But worcta -poken of the traitor only, and of no other. 
 
320 ST. MARK 14. 22 
 
 23 And as they were eating, he took bread, and when 
 he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, 
 
 xiv. 22-25. The Institution of the Lord' ] s Supper : cf. Matt. xxvi. 
 26-29 ; Luke xvii. 17-20 ; see also 1 Cor. xi. 23-25. 
 
 22. And as they were eating, he took bread. At what point 
 was this done? On this question opinion has been divided. It is 
 most reasonable, however, to suppose that Jesus would not inter- 
 fere with the usual ceremonial of the Passover feast, but would 
 follow it out carefully in all its essential parts, and only then make 
 the special institution of the Supper. The order observed in the 
 celebration of the Passover in our Lord's time appears to have 
 been this — first, thanks were offered and a cup of wine was drunk; 
 bitter herbs were next placed on the table, dipped in a sour liquid 
 and eaten with thanksgiving ; then the unleavened bread, the 
 sauce or broth known as the Charoseth, the lamb and the flesh of 
 the Chagiga (i. e. the free-will festive offering which was brought 
 on the first day of the feast) were presented ; next the head of 
 the family, after pronouncing a blessing, dipped a portion of the 
 bitter herbs, about the size of an olive, in the Charoseth and ate it, 
 the others eating after him ; then the second cup of wine was 
 mixed, and an explanation of the meaning of the Passover was 
 given ; the viands were then put again on the table, the first part 
 of the Hallel, consisting of Psalms cxiii, cxiv, was sung, thanks- 
 giving was again offered, and the second cup was drunk ; next the 
 head of the house washed his hands, took two pieces of bread, and 
 breaking one laid the broken parts on the other piece, pronounced 
 again a blessing, rolled part of the broken bread in bitter herbs, 
 dipped it in the Charoseth, gave thanks anew and ate it — doing the 
 same also with the part of the Chagiga and the lamb ; the guests 
 then partook, until the father ate the last portion of the lamb ; the 
 father then washed his hands, praise was offered, and the third 
 cup was drunk ; then followed the singing of the second part 
 of the Hallel, consisting of Psalms cxv-cxviii, and the drinking of 
 the fourth cup. Sometimes a fifth cup was drunk, and further 
 Psalms (exx-exxvii) were sung. 
 
 In all probability the new repast, to be known as the Lord's 
 Supper and to have a distinctive significance with reference to his 
 death, was instituted by Jesus at the last point in the order of the 
 Paschal celebration, when the last portion of the lamb was eaten 
 and the third cup was drunk, and the ceremonial of the Passover 
 was ended. 
 
 when he had blessed, he brake it. The ' bread ' which he 
 took was one of the loaves put upon the table before the celebrant, 
 but not one of the two which were taken as part of the ceremonial 
 of the Paschal meal itself. Another piece was taken, another 
 
ST. MARK 14. 
 
 2A-2 
 
 Take ye : this is my body. And he took a cup, and 23 
 when he had given thanks, he gave to them : and they 
 all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my 24 
 blood of the covenant, which is shed for many. Verily 25 
 
 blessing was pronounced, and there was a separate act of fraction. 
 There is nothing to indicate that the ' blessing' was more than 
 a pra3 r er of thanksgiving and setting apart. In Luke and Paul the 
 term is ' when he had given thanks ' (Luke xxii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 24). 
 
 gave to them. Possibly by handing it round piece by piece, 
 but more probably, as the Twelve were reclining, by simply 
 presenting it as a whole and distributing it. 
 
 Take ye. The • eat ' which is inserted after the l take ' in the 
 A. V. appears not to belong to the original text. It is found, 
 however, in Matthew's account. Both the 'take' and the 'eat' 
 are omitted by Luke and Paul. 
 
 this is my body. By the ' this ' Jesus undoubtedly means 
 the piece of bread which they were to take. As he was himself 
 there in living, bodily form he could not mean that that piece 
 of bread was in any literal fense his body. What his words 
 expressed was the fact that the bread which had been given 
 them and which had been broken, was symbolically his body — 
 representing the giving of his life for them. In Luke the words 
 are, 'This is my body which is given for you' (xxii. 19). In 
 Paul's account also the definition ' for you ' is added — ' This is my 
 body, which is for you,' or, according to another ancient reading. 
 ' which is broken for you ' ( 1 Cor. xi. 24). 
 
 23. And he took a cup. Which cup ? Some say the third of 
 the four cups taken during the Paschal meal, that cup being known 
 as 'the cup of blessing' ; but more probably it was the cup that 
 followed the final participation, the fourth cup. especially in view 
 both of the declaration in verse 25 and of the statement made 
 at once by Luke and by Paul that it was 'after supper' (Luke 
 xxii. 20; i Cor. xi. 25 . 
 
 24. This is my blood. Wine and blood are often compared 
 (Gen. xlix. 11). By 'this' Jesus means the wine in the cup 
 which he gave to the Twelve, and this wine, he says, is his blood ; 
 that is, is symbolical or representative of it. So • I am the door' 
 (John x. 7), &c. 
 
 of the covenant. A better rendering, in view of the usage 
 of the word, than the 'testament 1 of the A. V. So also in 
 Matthew. Paul gives the sentence in this form — ' This cup is 
 the new covenant in my blood' (1 Cor. xi. 25). The words take 
 us back to those spoken by Moses of the ancient covenant of God 
 with Israel -- ' Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord 
 
322 ST. MARK 14. 25 
 
 I say unto you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the 
 vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 hath made with you concerning all these words ' (Exod. xxiv. 8). 
 They mean that Jesus was instituting a new and better covenant 
 than the Sinaitic, and that it was to be ratified by the blood of 
 a better sacrifice. They give a sacrificial meaning, therefore, to 
 the death which was in his view. 
 
 which is shed for many. That is, * which is about to be 
 shed.' So also in Matthew. The point of the comparison is 
 given even yet more distinctly by Luke — • even that which is 
 poured out for you' (xxii. 20). The pouring out of the wine 
 corresponds to the breaking of the bread, and has the same 
 reference to the surrendered, sacrificed life of Jesus. The 
 sacrificial meaning of his death and its expiatory relation to 
 the forgiveness of sin are expressed yet more definitely by 
 Matthew, who adds 'unto remission of sins' (xxvi. 28). 
 
 25. I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that 
 day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Introduced 
 as they are by the solemn formula, Verily I say unto you, these 
 words must be taken to mean much. They express in the first place 
 the fact that this was the last occasion on which Jesus should 
 take part in the Passover celebration. Matthew's more pointed 
 form, * I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine' (xxvi. 
 29), makes it still clearer that it was the wine of the Paschal meal 
 Jesus had in view, that he had himself been a partaker with 
 others, and that ' henceforth,' from that present occasion, he 
 should do so no more. But they speak in the second place of 
 a future participation — a day when he should drink it new (' new.' 
 not in the sense of recent or fresh, but in that of another and better 
 kind). This cannot refer, as some have thought, to anything 
 belonging to the period of his risen life on earth, but, as the 
 phrase ' in the kingdom of God ' implies, to the perfected condition 
 of things, the consummation of his kingdom, the world of the 
 future in which all things are to be made new (Rev. xxi. 5). 
 There he will take part in a Passover of a new and better kind, 
 in a fellowship of a new and higher order. See the promise in 
 Luke (xxii. 29, 30), and compare the parables of the great Supper 
 and the Marriage Feast (Luke xiv. 16-24 ; Matt. xxii. 1-14). 
 
 Mark's account of the institution of the Lord's Supper is most 
 concise and clear. It contains no explicit statement either of the 
 memorial purpose of the Supper or of its perpetuity. The same 
 is the case with Matthew. But it does not follow from this, as 
 some argue, that Jesus had no intention of instituting a regular 
 ordinance and one to be perpetual!}' observed in his Church, or 
 
ST. MARK li. 26 32;, 
 
 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out unto 26 
 the mount of Olives. 
 
 that the Lord's Supper as we know it is the creation of Paul. It 
 is in the Pauline account indeed that we have the most express 
 statement of the memorial meaning of the Supper, and of its 
 destination to be observed till Christ comes (1 Cor. xi. 24, 25, 26}. 
 But, according to a reading which in any case is of primitive origin 
 and is accepted by the Revisers ('this do in remembrance of me '), 
 the commemorative purpose is indicated also by Luke (xxii. 19). 
 The statement in 1 Corinthians and the practice of the Apostolic 
 Church, shew how the Supper was understood by the apostles 
 themselves. It is also difficult to understand why Jesus should 
 have done what Matthew and Mark record him to have done 
 in so solemn a manner, immediately after the celebration of the 
 Paschal meal, in express connexion with that sacred commemora- 
 tive ordinance, and in terms of a new covenant similar to the old 
 covenant but with a higher meaning, if he had only in view the 
 one occasion and did not intend to institute a regular and enduring 
 rite. 
 
 Tradition has fixed upon two spots as the site of the ' upper 
 room ' in which the Passover was eaten and the Lord's Supper 
 instituted, namely, (1) on the side of the mount of Olives, not far 
 from the Church of the Virgin Mary ; and (2) on the western hill, 
 usually called Mount Zion. In the mosque occupying a position 
 on the latter a room is to be seen which is described as 'a large, 
 dreary room of stone, fifty or sixty feet long by some thirty in width. 
 At the east end is a small niche in the wall, which the Christians 
 use at certain seasons as an altar' (Robinson, Bibl. Researches, 
 i. 241). The ' upper room' must have been within easy distance 
 of the Garden of Gethsemane. 
 
 xiv. 26. Departure to the Mount of Olives : cf. Matt. xxvi. 30 ; 
 Luke xxii. 39; John xviii. 1. 
 
 28. when they had sting- a hymn. Some have supposed this 
 to have been Ps. exxxvi. But in all probability it was the second 
 part of the Hallel, which it was customary to sing after the meal. 
 This consisted of Psalms exv-exviii. Some take it to have been 
 the great Hallel, Psalms exx-exxvii. 
 
 they went out. It was provided by a regulation founded on 
 Exod. xii. 22 that the night after the Paschal meal should be 
 spent in the city. But that seems to have fallen into abeyance 
 or to have been but partially observed. 
 
 the mount of Olives. There would be nothing in this move- 
 ment to excite surprise. The}' were going in the direction of their 
 usual retreat for the night. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 ST. MARK 14. 27-39 
 
 27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended : 
 for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep 
 
 28 shall be scattered abroad. Howbeit, after I am raised 
 
 29 up, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said 
 
 xiv. 27-31. Announcement of Desertion by the Twelve and Denial 
 by Peter : cf. Matt. xxvi. 31-35 ; Luke xxii. 31-34 ; John xiii. 36-38. 
 
 27. And Jesus saith unto them. Matthew says more de- 
 finitely l Then saith Jesus' (xxvi. 31). The words that follow, 
 therefore, are given by the first two Evangelists as spoken after 
 the party had left the supper-room. Luke and John introduce 
 them as if they had been spoken before that. Some have thought 
 that Jesus spoke thrice of Peter's fall, taking the occasions reported 
 respectively by Matthew and Mark, by Luke, and by John to be 
 distinct. Others suppose that there was but one prediction of that 
 event, namely, that reported by Luke and John, Matthew and 
 Mark being understood to give it in the order of ideas rather 
 than in that of precise time. There is nothing unreasonable, 
 however, in supposing that the announcement was made twice, 
 first when the party were yet in the room, and again when they 
 were on the way. This would be quite in harmony, indeed, both 
 with the circumstances and with Peter's character. 
 
 offended. Jesus had often spoken of offences or stumblings 
 (Matt. xxiv. 10 ; Mark iv. 17, ix. 42 ; Luke vii. 23 ; John xvi. 1 >. 
 and had delivered solemn counsels on the subject both to those 
 hostile to him and to uncertain, unreliable followers (Matt. xv. 12 : 
 Mark vi. 3 ; John vi. 61). These warnings are directed now to 
 the Twelve themselves. With what feelings must they have heard 
 then, all unconscious as they were of disloyalty ! 
 
 for it is written. The dark prediction is sealed by the testi- 
 mon3^ of Scripture. The passage that follows is taken, with some 
 modification, from Zechariah (xiii. 7). In the shepherd against 
 whom the sword was called to awake Jesus sees a representation 
 of himself, the true Shepherd of the sheep, divinely appointed, but 
 also devoted to death. 
 
 28. after I am raised up. Another explicit announcement 
 of his resurrection, turning the darkness of the prediction of his 
 death into the light of a new hope. 
 
 go before you into Galilee. The Twelve would naturally 
 return to their own northern parts when all was over. The 
 assurance that he would be there before them is meant to relieve 
 them of the gloom into which the thought of his death casts them, 
 and to make the promise of his resurrection more real to them 
 and more certain. Cf. also xvi. 6. 7. 
 
 29. But Peter said unto him. The eager, impulsive, warm- 
 
ST. MARK H. 30-32 325 
 
 unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not 
 I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, 30 
 that thou to-day, even this night, before the cock crow 
 twice, shalt deny me thrice. But he spake exceeding 31 
 vehemently, If I must die with thee, I will not deny 
 thee. And in like manner also said they all. 
 
 And they come unto a place which was named Geth- 32 
 
 hearted Apostle cannot bear the thought of such cowardly faith- 
 lessness. For himself, at any rate, he will have nothing of it, and in 
 the haste of his confident love he breaks out into hot, impetuous 
 words of repudiation. The protestation is given substantially 
 in the same form by Matthew. In Luke the terms are somewhat 
 different, as the forewarning itself is more pointed and circum- 
 stantial (xxii. 31-34). The differences in John's narrative, too, 
 are considerable, and point (together with Luke's account) to a 
 different occasion (xiii. 36-38). 
 
 30. thou to-day, even this night, before the cock crow twice, 
 shalt deny me thrice. Notice the significant ' thou ' correspond- 
 ing to Peter's 'I, 'rightly placed at the beginning by the R. V., 
 though omitted by the A. V. In Matthew it is simply ' before the 
 cock crow,' or rather, 'before a cock crow,' that is, before day 
 begins to dawn. In Mark the declaration is made sharper and 
 more pointed by the more precise statement of time (' to-day, 
 even this night ') and the mention of the twice, the two successive 
 notes that might make him pause. Cock-crowing is identified 
 with the third of the four night watches. That watch, extending 
 from midnight till about 3 a.m., is called i the cock-crowing* in 
 this Gospel (xiii. 35). The first cock-crowing, less certain than 
 the second, might be about midnight ; the second towards 3 a.m., 
 or at earliest daybreak. 
 
 31. But he spake exceeding* vehemently. The words imply 
 that he went on protesting, and with the greater heat. The Lord's 
 v/ords disconcerted and mortified him, and made him assert himself 
 the more. 
 
 And in like manner also said they all. This is stated also 
 in Matthew, though not in Luke and John. It is what might have 
 been expected. The rest could have as little idea as Peter of a 
 trial that would turn the devotion of which they were conscious 
 at the time into timid, selfish flight. They would be as ready to 
 deny the possibility as he was, and his passionate assertions would 
 provoke them to speak as he did, if they had not already made their 
 ptotest. 
 
 xiv. 32-42. The Agony in the Garden: cf. Matt. xxvi. 30-46; 
 
326 ST. MARK 14. 33 
 
 semane : and he saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, 
 33 while I pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James 
 
 Luke xxii. 40-46 ; also John xviii. 1. The fullest accounts of this 
 momentous scene are given by Matthew and Mark. John does not 
 record the Agony. Luke gives a brief narrative, which says 
 nothing of the choice of the three, and speaks only of one time 
 of prayer. On the other hand he, and he alone, introduces the 
 statements about the strengthening angel and the bloody sweat. 
 The two verses, however, containing these statements (xxii. 43, 
 44), though thejr have a place in the text of the R. V. as well as in 
 that of the A. V., are omitted by some of the most important of 
 our ancient documents, and are of uncertain authority here. 
 
 32. And thsy come unto a place which was named Geth- 
 semane. It is not stated when the party left the upper room or 
 when they arrived at this place. But as the ceremonial of the 
 Paschal meal began probably soon after 6 p.m., and lasted some 
 hours, it might be about midnight before the Twelve were here. 
 Luke speaks of the place as f the mount of Olives ' (xxii. 39), and 
 John speaks of it as ' a garden' across 'the brook Kidron ' (xviii. 1). 
 Matthew and Mark give the name Gethsemane, a word meaning 
 ' oil-press,' and indicate by the term they use for ' place ' that 
 it was 'an enclosed piece of ground,' as the margin of the R. V. 
 explains. It seems, therefore, to have been an olive orchard ; and 
 even if it were a private enclosure or farm it could be entered 
 without difficulty and without attracting notice. For during the 
 Paschal season nouses and gardens were open to the public. The 
 traditional site is some fifty yards beyond the bridge across the 
 Kidron. There a plot of ground presents itself, surrounded by 
 a stone wall and having within it eight olive trees. These trees 
 are so ancient that many have imagined them to be the very trees 
 on which our Lord looked, although that is rendered the more 
 doubtful by Josephus's statement that during the siege of Jerusalem 
 by Titus all the trees in the neighbourhood were cut down (Jewish 
 War, vi. i. n). Be that as it may, these trees, standing there in the 
 majesty of their age and the pathos of their decay, are worthy ol 
 the words used of them by Dean Stanley — ' the most venerable of 
 their race on the face of the earth, their gnarled trunks and scanty 
 foliage will always be regarded as the most affecting of the sacred 
 memorials in or about Jerusalem.' Whether the modern Gethsemane 
 really occupies the site of the ancient garden, however, is doubted 
 by not a few. In any case the former cannot be far from the latter. 
 Sit ye here, while I pray. Prayer, solitary prayer, was 
 the supreme need of Jesus with the cross now in view, and 
 in anticipation, as we may reverently believe, of the conflict 
 which he felt rising within him. For that he sought this 
 
ST. MARK 11. 34, 35 327 
 
 and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and sore 
 troubled. And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding 34 
 sorrowful even unto death : abide ye here, and watch. 
 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, 35 
 
 place which, while near the highway, yet gave opportunity of 
 seclusion. 
 
 From John (xviii. 1) we gather that the Eleven went with Jesus 
 into the enclosure. But eight of them were bidden stay at the 
 entrance, and only the three who had been chosen before for the 
 most privileged fellowship were taken further within. 
 
 33. began to be greatly amazed. The inward conflict was 
 immediately upon him, and it was so severe that the Evangelists 
 seem to exhaust the vocabulary of struggle and dread in order to 
 express it. ' Greatly amazed,' says Mark, using a word peculiar to 
 himself in the N. T., and expressing here the pain of a great shock 
 as elsewhere the excess of an awe that surprises or overpowers 
 (Mark ix. 15, xvi. 5, 6). 
 
 and sore troubled. Another expressive word, occurring 
 only here, in the parallel in Matthew (xxvi. 37), and once in Paul 
 (Phil. ii. 26). It expresses, as it is well put by Swete, ' the distress 
 which follows a great shock, "the confused, restless, half-distracted 
 state " Tightfoot) which may be worse than the sharp pain of 
 a fully realized sorrow.' Matthew gives ' sorrowful and sore 
 troubled.' 
 
 34. And he saith unto them. The three are with him. there- 
 fore, thus far, seeing .all ; and to them he utters the sorrow that 
 distracts him within, his human soul craving to unburden itself to 
 others. 
 
 My soul. Here the word ' soul.' so often used as equivalent 
 to t life,' has the more definite sense of the seat of the feelings and 
 emotions, the centre of all pleasure and pain. So it is also in 
 John xii. 27, but nowhere else so distinctly in the N. T. 
 
 exceeding sorrowful even unto death. So also in Matthew. 
 Cf. Ps. xlii. 5, 6, 11, xliii. 5. ' Unto death,' that is, a sorrow that 
 kill», a sorrow that strains life to the point of extinction. 
 
 abide ye here, and watch. In the agonizing passages of 
 life men crave at once solitude and sympathy. Jesus must be 
 alone, yet he would have these faithful three near enough to be 
 witnesses of his anguish, and he would have their sympathy also, 
 and their fellowship in watchful preparation for the impending 
 trial. 
 
 35. And he went forward a little. Luke gives it more pre- 
 cisely as ' about a stone's cast ' (xxii. 4 1 . There was a deep in this 
 sorrow that even the three could not enter, a stress in this conflict 
 which even they could not share. So Abraham separated himself 
 
328 ST. MARK 14. 3 6, 37 
 
 and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass 
 
 36 away from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things 
 are possible unto thee ; remove this cup from me : 
 
 37 howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he 
 cometh, and flndeth them sleeping, and saith unto 
 
 from his young men, and went alone with Isaac ' yonder' to wor- 
 ship in his dread trial (Gen. xxii. 5). 
 
 fell on the ground. ' On his face,' says Matthew (xxvi. 39). 
 Luke states simply that he 'kneeled down' (xxii. 41), a natural 
 attitude and a common one in earnest prayer (Acts vii. 60, ix. 40, 
 xx. 36, xxi. 5). 
 
 that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from 
 him. The strenuousness, the agony of his petition is in this cry, 
 'if it were possible.' The 'hour,' that is, the appointed hour, the 
 time ordained for him in his Father's counsel, and foreseen by 
 himself. He prayed that, if this must come, it might come and go 
 without its anticipated woe. This phrase ' the hour/ * his hour ' 
 occurs repeatedly in the Fourth Gospel, in more than one applica- 
 tion, but usually with reference to his death (John ii. 4, vii. 30, 
 viii. ao, xii. 23, 27, xiii. 1, xvii. 1). 
 
 36. Abba, Father. Two words, Aramaic and Greek, having 
 the same sense. But the second is not a mere explanation of the 
 first given for the benefit of non-Jewish readers. Rather is the 
 double title the utterance of deep emotion. Strong feeling is apt 
 to express itself in reduplicating terms ; and in the case of those 
 accustomed to speak at times an acquired tongue, it is the fond 
 vernacular that springs first to the lips in moments of profound or 
 agitated feeling. See how the new filial feeling towards God 
 expresses itself according to Paul (Rom. viii. 15; Gal. iv. 6). 
 Perhaps the double term had become a familiar form in prayer 
 among the Palestinian Jews. Only Mark introduces this ' Abba, 
 Father,' and the only other occurrences of this twofold name of 
 God are those two in the Pauline Epistles. 
 
 remove this cup from me. The figure of the 'cup 1 was 
 used before, but then, too, with reference to his sufferings. See 
 on x. 38. 
 
 howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt. The longing, 
 natural to humanity, to escape pain and sorrow yields at once 
 to the superior claim of the Divine will. So Jesus had a real 
 human will capable of a conflict with the Divine. It is the problem 
 of theology to relate this distinct human will to his higher nature, 
 so as neither to take from the integrity of his humanity nor to 
 ascribe to him a double personality. 
 
 37. findeth them sleeping. After this first crisis of prayer he 
 
ST. MARK 14. 38,39 329 
 
 Peter, Simon, sleepest thou ? couldest thou not watch 
 one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into 38 
 temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
 is weak. And again he went away, and prayed, saying 39 
 
 seeks again the fellowship of the three, but finds them asleep, his 
 charge to watch all forgotten. 
 
 Simon, sleepest thou? He selects the one of the three who 
 had been loudest in protestation, and from whom more was ex- 
 pected, and calls him not Peter, but Simon. There was reproach 
 in the use of the old name of nature instead of the new name of 
 grace and office. 
 
 one hour. Even so brief a space as that — only the third part of 
 one of the watches of the night. The foremost of the apostles had 
 not the strength even for that ! Luke explains the sleep of the three 
 as due to sorrow (xxii. 45) ; and that is true to nature. Heavy 
 sorrow soon brings exhaustion with it and deadened sensibility. 
 
 38. Watch and pray, that ye enter not : or, as in the margin 
 of the R. V., 'Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not.' According 
 to the former rendering, they are charged (the three being now 
 addressed, and not Simon only) both to be wakeful and to pray, 
 that by these two things, wakefulness and prayer, they may 
 be kept from giving themselves away to temptation. According 
 to the latter they are to be wakeful, and to make deliverance from 
 temptation the subject of their praj'ers. Watchfulness and prayer 
 are meant to serve each other. So Peter speaks of the former 
 (using for it another term) as having the latter as its end and object 
 (1 Pet. iv. 7). From Luke it would appear that Jesus had already 
 charged this duty of praying against temptation upon them when 
 he came to the garden, and before he went apart into its deeper 
 solitude (xxii. 40). 
 
 temptation. The great, inclusive term for all those things by 
 which man is tried and proved, whether by God through pain and 
 sorrow, or by Satan through his varied solicitations to sin, or by 
 the evil that is in man himself. 
 
 the spirit indeed is willing*, but the flesh is weak. The 
 Lord's apology for human nature even when, in the best, it fails and 
 disappoints. He knows how insufficient the instrument is through 
 which the spirit has to work. To understand all that these two 
 things, flesh and spirit, mean, wc turn to the Epistles of Paul and 
 John. Everywhere the spirit is that which gives life and links 
 man with God : a significant term in the O.T., but with a meaning 
 at once deeper and higher in the N. T. Everywhere, too, the 
 flesh is the note of man's limitations, in the O.T. the designation 
 of his dependence, and frailt}*, and mortality; in the N. T. the 
 designation not only of the weakness of his nature as it now 
 
33© ST. MARK 11. 40, 41 
 
 40 the same words. And again he came, and found them 
 sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy ; and they 
 
 41 wist not what to answer him. And he cometh the 
 third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and 
 take your rest : it is enough ; the hour is come ; behold, 
 the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
 
 is, but also more definitely of its sinfulness, its opposition to God, 
 its disinclination to good. 
 
 40. they wist not what to answer him. The second time he 
 finds them faster asleep than before, and less masters of them- 
 selves when aroused. They were in a helpless, speechless daze. 
 It was a recurrence of their experience on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration. There sudden fear, here dire sorrow, brought on them 
 a drowsiness against which they could not struggle, and an 
 incapacity of utterance. 
 
 41. Sleep on now, and take your rest. On the third occasion 
 he says nothing more of watching, but bids them sleep and rest ; 
 for the time for watchfulness was gone, so far as concerned the 
 present emergency. There is more here than resigned permission 
 of the slumber which had its excuse in the weariness of nature. 
 There is sorrowful irony in the words. Jesus had already em- 
 ployed this weapon of gentle irony (Mark vii. 9). Nor is there 
 anything incongruous in his use of it even at this most solemn 
 moment of conflict, prayer, and dread anticipation. ' Irony is not 
 inconsistent even with the deepest anguish of soul, especially in 
 cases where such anguish is also accompanied with such clearness 
 of judgement as we find in the present instance ; and consider what 
 it was for Jesus to see such overpowering tendency to sleep on 
 the part of his disciples, and to find everything so different from 
 what he needed and might have reasonably expected ! ' (Meyer). 
 
 it is enough. Better simply, * enough ! ' A singular phrase, 
 peculiar to Mark, and scarcely to be found anywhere else indeed 
 in its present use. Its point is by no means clear. It may refer 
 to the Lord's ironical address : ' Enough of such expostulation ; 
 the time for that is past ; the danger is at hand.' Or it may refer, 
 as most take it, to the slumber of the disciples ; * But enough of 
 sleep ; it is the time for action.' So his tone changes. He has 
 caught sight of the body of men wending their way from the city, 
 and the mood of sorrowful irony gives way again to that of deep 
 earnestness. The short, rapid, broken sentences that now fall 
 from his lips — enough! the hour is come ; the Son of man is betrayed; 
 arise, let us be going — express his quick, agitated sense of the crisis. 
 
 into the hands of sinners. The members of the Sanhedrin, 
 
ST. MARK 11. 42,43 331 
 
 Arise, let us be going : behold, he that betrayeth me is 4 2 
 at hand. 
 
 And straightway, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, 43 
 one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords 
 and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and 
 
 those official Jews who had schemed lor his life and would have 
 him in their hands now, are specially intended. 
 
 42. Arise, let us be going*. Certainly not with a view to flight, 
 but to meet the decisive hour and face the betrayer. The three 
 disciples were still prostrate on the ground, but awake. He has 
 been standing by them, and now bids them rise and go with him. 
 John states explicitly that Jesus ' went forth ' and met Judas and 
 his band (xviii 4 . 
 
 The accounts which the Synoptical Gospels give of this profound 
 and painful passage in our Lord's experience have the unmistakable 
 stamp of reality, and differ wholly from what myth or legend might 
 have produced. They record an Agony, which did not consist in mere 
 physical suffering, nor yet in mental pain of an ordinary kind. It 
 cannot be explained as due simply to the defeat of his hopes, his 
 disappointment with his friends, or anything of that kind. It is 
 caused by the anticipation of his Passion; but it cannot be understood 
 as the mere recoil of a sensitive spirit from the prospect of death. If 
 that were all, then we should have to say that the Lord himself 
 was inferior to many of his followers in courage, serenity, and 
 endurance. Can those intense supplications, those swayings to 
 and fro in perturbed and sorrowful feeling, be adequately understood 
 unless we see in him of whom they are reported one who stood 
 in a peculiar relation to God and to man, the sinless one realizing 
 as no other could what death and sin are, and himself suffering 
 for others • 
 
 xiv. 43-50. The Betrayal and Arrest : cf. Matt. xxvi. 4 7-56; Luke 
 xxii. 47-53 ; John xviii. 2-12. 
 
 43. straightway, while he yet spake, oometh Judas. The 
 words, ' Arise, let us be going : behold, he that betrayeth me is at 
 hand,' were yet upon the lips of Jesus, when Judas burst in. He 
 had acted promptly, and had made his way easily and quickly to 
 the spot. He was familiar with the place, as John tells us (xviii. 
 2 . and had no doubt been often in it with Jesus and his fellow 
 apostles. 
 
 one of the twelve. The tragic note in the designation of 
 the traitor, clinging to his name, and given here again, as already 
 in verse 10. by all the three Synoptists; cf. also John vi. 71. 
 
 with him a multitude with swords and staves. Judas 
 'went before them,' says Luke (xxii. 47}, acting as guide to a 
 
33% ST. MARK 14. 44-47 
 
 44 the elders. Now he that betrayed him had given them 
 a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he ; 
 
 45 take him, and lead him away safely. And when he 
 was come, straightway he came to him, and saith, Rabbi ; 
 
 46 and kissed him. And they laid hands on him, and took 
 
 47 him. But a certain one of them that stood by drew his 
 
 crowd sent by the chief members of the Sanhedrin, armed against 
 resistance with short swords and clubs or cudgels, such weapons 
 as could be hastily collected. It was an irregular body of men, 
 probably made up in the main of the Levitical guards, but 
 supported by a detachment of Roman soldiers from the castle 
 of Antonia. John mentions explicitly the ' band ' or ' cohort ' 
 of soldiers (xviii. 3), whose services the Jewish authorities may 
 have secured by making a representation to Pilate. These guards 
 and Roman soldiers were accompanied also by servants of the 
 high priest and others, as is implied in verses 47, 51, including, 
 as it appears from Luke (xxii. 52), even members of the Sanhedrin. 
 
 44. had given them a token. This had been arranged before 
 they started, therefore, and it was Judas's own proposal. The 
 concerted signal was the usual salute given to a Rabbi — a kiss. 
 
 take him, and lead him away safely. ' Seize him,' or 
 ' arrest him,' 'and carry him off in custody.' So eager was Judas 
 that the capture should be effected immediately and securely. 
 
 45. straightway he came to him. Judas himself lost no time 
 in carrying out his part of the base contract. So soon as he saw 
 Jesus he addressed him by the usual name Rabbi, and gave him 
 the customary salute, perhaps with more than usual fervour ; 
 as the word used here, ' kissed him, ' may perhaps mean * kissed 
 him much ' (cf. the margin of the R. V.). Mark says nothing of 
 any words directed to Judas. Matthew represents Jesus as 
 saying to the traitor, ' Friend, do that for which thou art come ' 
 (xxvi. 50). Luke gives the words, 'Judas, betrayest thou the 
 Son of man with a kiss?' (xxii. 48). John omits the incident 
 of the kiss, and reports Jesus as going forth to meet the crowd 
 and putting to them the question. ' Whom seek ye ? ' (xviii. 4). 
 
 47. But a certain one of them. John tells us it was Simon 
 Peter (xviii. 10). 
 
 drew his sword. A short sword or knife. Luke tells us 
 that the eleven had two swords with them (xxii. 38), and also 
 that when they saw what was likely to happen they asked him 
 whether they might not use the weapon to repel the assailants 
 xxii. 49). Peter, in his impetuous characteristic way, acted on 
 his impulse, and struck at once in his Master's defence. 
 
ST. MARK 14. 4 8- 5 i 333 
 
 sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and 
 struck off his ear. And Jesus answered and said unto 48 
 them, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords 
 and staves to seize me ? I was daily with you in the 49 
 temple teaching, and ye took me not : but this is do?ie 
 that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And they all 50 
 left him, and fled. 
 
 And a certain young man followed with him, having 51 
 
 the servant of the high, priest. All the Evangelists record 
 this, but only John gives the name, Malchifs — by no means an 
 unusual name. John, being acquainted with the high priest, may 
 have at once recognized the man, who probably was taking a 
 foremost part in the seizure. 
 
 struck off his ear. The right ear, according to Luke and 
 John. Neither the remonstrance of Jesus nor the healing of 
 the ear is recorded by Mark. The former is given by the other 
 three Evangelists, though in different terms (Matt. xxvi. 53; 
 Luke xxii. 51; John xviii. 11). The latter is reported only by 
 Luke (.xxii. 51). 
 
 48. Are ye come out, as against a robber? A protest against 
 a kind of action which was fitter for a brigand or highwayman 
 than for a religious teacher such as he was ; one, too, who had 
 been speaking publicly day after day in the temple, whose 
 character and doctrine were known to all, and who had given 
 them abundant opportunity of apprehending him there, if they 
 had had cause. 
 
 49. that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Referring 
 probably to such passages as Isa. liii. 
 
 50. And they all left him, and fled. That is, all the eleven, 
 the three and their comrades. Peter, however, soon followed 
 him again, though 'afar off' (Mark xiv. 54), and also John 
 
 xviii. 15). 
 
 xiv. 51, 52. Incident of the Young Man. A picturesque and 
 interesting episode, peculiar to Mark. 
 
 51. a certain young man followed with him. Many vain 
 conjectures have been hazarded as to who this young man was. 
 some, e. g., supposing him to have been James the Just ; others, 
 Saul of Tarsus, attracted by curiosity ; others, John ; others, a 
 youth from some farm in the neighbourhood or from the house 
 in which the Passover meal had been eaten. The most probable 
 conjecture is that he was the Evangelist himself. This would 
 explain, it is thought, why the name is not given, and why an 
 
334 ST. MARK 14. 52, 53 
 
 a linen cloth cast about him, over his naked body : and 
 
 52 they lay hold on him ; but he left the linen cloth, and 
 fled naked. 
 
 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest : and 
 
 incident like this, which has a purely personal interest and stands 
 in no essential relation to the arrest, is introduced in the Second 
 Gospel, and into it alone. The narrative else leaves all uncertain. 
 having a linen cloth cast about him. The word ' cloth ' 
 here means a ' wrap ' or ' shirt.' It may have been ' a light 
 summer " square " hastily caught up ' (Swete), or rather a night- 
 dress. The young man, therefore, may have been a disciple, but 
 he was not one of the Twelve, nor one of those who had been in 
 the supper-room or near the garden. He seems to have been 
 raised out of sleep by the noise of the crowd as it passed, and to 
 have rushed out to discover what the uproar meant. The Evange- 
 list does not tell us exactly where this happened — whether the 
 young man had made his way along with the multitude into 
 Gethsemane, or had met Jesus in the street after the appre- 
 hension. 
 
 52. left the linen cloth, and fled naked. Recognizing the 
 person in the hands of the band to be Jesus, to whose teaching 
 he probably had listened with interest and to whom he had 
 become in a certain measure devoted, he at once joined him and 
 * followed with him.' But his courage sank when his obtrusive 
 sympathy led to hands being laid upon himself, and he fled as 
 precipitately as he had come. The A. V. designates the partisans 
 who would have laid hold of him 'the young men,' but with- 
 out sufficient documentary authority. 
 
 xiv. 53-65. The Trial before the High Priest: cf. Matt. xxvi. 
 57-68 ; Luke xxii. 54, 63-71 ; see also John xviii. 12-14, 19-24. 
 
 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest. John men- 
 tions that they first ' bound ' him. The three Synoptists agree in 
 stating that he was taken straight from Gethsemane to the high 
 priest, or to his house. Mark and Luke do not give at this point 
 the name of the high priest. Matthew says f to the house of 
 Caiaphas the high priest ' (xxvi. 57); John says that they led him 
 'to Annas first,' and gives as the reason for this the fact that 
 Annas was ' father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was high priest that 
 year' (xviii. 13). The order of events, therefore, would seem to 
 be this — after the arrest Jesus was taken first to Annas ; then he 
 was sent by Annas to Caiaphas ; and then he was brought before 
 the Sanhedrin, and tried and condemned. Annas was high priest, 
 we know, during a.d. 7-14; and Caiaphas, or Joseph Caiaphas, 
 held the office a. d. 18-36. It was the part, therefore, of Caiaphas, 
 
ST. MARK 14. 54, 55 335 
 
 there come together with him all the chief priests and 
 the elders and the scribes. And Peter had followed 54 
 him afar off, even within, into the court of the high 
 priest ; and he was sitting with the officers, and warm- 
 ing himself in the light of 'the fire. Now the chief priests 55 
 and the whole council sought witness against Jesus 
 
 the actual holder of the office at the time, to conduct any official 
 inquiry. If Jesus, then, was subjected to any examination by 
 Annas, it must have been an informal and preliminary inquir}*, and 
 made by Annas on the ground of his experience and influence 
 and special relation to the responsible official. It is possible that 
 he was living at the time with his son-in-law, occupying with him 
 the official residence, if there was such. 
 
 there come together with him. It was still very early in 
 the morning, but already the whole body of the chief priests and 
 representatives of the other orders in the Sanhedrin had been 
 flocking to the house, and now they came ' with him,' that is, along 
 with Jesus himself, at the very time he was being led in. 
 
 54. Peter had followed him afar off. Peter had been carried 
 off" with the rest in the sudden panic, but had soon turned back, 
 and had followed at some distance. 
 
 into the court. He had even gone within, into the open 
 court, round which the rooms of the residence were built. He 
 owed his admission to the fact that he was with John, who ' was 
 known unto the high priest ' (John xviii. 15). 
 
 was sitting 1 with the officers. Probably with the Levitical 
 guards, who had brought the prisoner in and were now seeking 
 the welcome heat of the fire. For the nights are cold in Jeru- 
 salem, and especially so in the watch preceding sunrise. 
 
 in the light of the fire. Thus the more exposed to recog- 
 nition. This touch is peculiar to Mark. While Peter, who had 
 made his way within in his anxiety ' to see the end ' (Matt. xxvi. 
 58 , sits there by the charcoal fire (John xviii. 18), which had 
 been lit ' in the midst of the court ' (Luke xxii. 55), his Master stood 
 before the Jewish authorities in one of the rooms above (cf. 
 verse 56). 
 
 55. the chief priests and the whole council. It was, there- 
 fore, a full meeting of the great national council, presided over 
 by Caiaphas. Mark, along with Matthew and Luke, omits the par- 
 ticulars of the earlier, preparatory inquiry before Annas, which is 
 recorded by John. There is nothing in the Synoptical narratives, 
 however, to exclude the occurrence of such an inquiry. In like 
 manner John omits the particulars of this trial before the Sanhe- 
 drin, though he refers to it (xviii. 24,. 
 
336 ST. MARK 14. 56-5S 
 
 56 to put him to death ; and found it not. For many 
 bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed 
 
 57 not together. And there stood up certain, and bare 
 
 58 false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, 
 I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, 
 and in three days I will build another made without 
 
 sought witness. Comparing the several narratives, we may 
 conclude that Jesus had first been questioned by Annas, in con- 
 sistency with the nature of a private inquiry, about matters of a 
 more general kind — 'his disciples and his teaching' (John xviii. 
 19) ; that when he was brought before Caiaphas, the effort was 
 made to prove him guilty of a capital offence ; that with that 
 object witnesses had been got together, first one set and then 
 another, who were prepared to give false testimony or to turn 
 r,ome of his earlier words against him ; but that their evidence 
 utterly broke down ; and that then Caiaphas questioned him as to 
 his Messianic claims, and condemned him on the ground of these. 
 
 56. their witness agreed not tog-ether. There were many 
 witnesses, but no two of the first set gave the same evidence. 
 According to the Mosaic Law it required the consentient testimony 
 of two witnesses in order to establish a capital charge (Deut. 
 xix. 15). 
 
 57. And there stood up certain. The court, however, had 
 a second set of witnesses in reserve. They were two in number, 
 as Matthew states ( xxvi. 60^, and now the court seemed likely to 
 succeed in its object. But again they failed. 
 
 58. We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is 
 made with hands, and in three days I will build another made 
 without hands. The charge was that he had made a statement 
 in disparagement of the Temple, and as if he would overthrow it. 
 They founded it on the words which he spoke at the beginning of 
 his ministry regarding the temple of his body (John ii. 19). These 
 words were misunderstood at the time. They were now misrepre- 
 sented by these two witnesses, when they reported him to have 
 said, S I am able to destroy ' (Matt. xxvi. 61), ' I will destroy ' 
 (Mark xiv. 58), instead of 'Destroy . . .' and 'I will raise it up* 
 (John ii. 19), and to have contrasted the existing temple as one 
 ' made with hands ' with another which he himself was to build in 
 three days and ' without hands/ This, therefore, again was false 
 testimony ; and in giving it the two witnesses did not even agree. 
 The statement of the two is given in a briefer form by Matthew. 
 It is omitted by Luke and John. It meant one of the heaviest accu- 
 sations that could be brought by one Jew against another. Stephen 
 was afterwards charged with speaking against the ' holy place and 
 
ST. MARK L4. b9 -Gz 337 
 
 hands. And not even so did their witness agree together. 59 
 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked 60 
 Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which 
 these witness against thee? But he held his peace, and 61 
 answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, 
 and saith unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of 
 the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall sec < - 
 the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and 
 
 the law,' on the ground that he had been heard say that ' this Jesus 
 of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs 
 which Moses delivered unto us ' (Acts vi. 13, 14). 
 
 60. the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus. 
 Seeing the case as it had been carefully prepared breaking utterly 
 down, and chagrined at the silence of Jesus, Caiaphas wished to 
 get the accused himself to interpose, and 'stood up in the midst' 
 ^another of Mark's graphic touches) in order to extract something 
 from him which might be turned to use. 
 
 61. he held his peace. He had nothing to say to perjured 
 witnesses who refuted themselves. 
 
 Again the high priest asked him. Caiaphas, in his disap- 
 pointment and perplexity, makes a second attempt to draw Jesus 
 into speech that might compromise him and help the futile case. 
 Now he asks him directly whether he claimed to be the Messiah. 
 
 Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ? According to 
 Matthew, in putting this second question Caiaphas called upon 
 Jesus to answer it as on oath — * I adjure thee by the living God' 
 xxvi. 63). 'The living God,' that is, the God who can punish the 
 false and perjured (Heb. x. 31). The terms of the question, ' the 
 Son of God' (Matt.), ' the Son of the Blessed' (Mark), imply 
 the Divine Sonship of the Messiah. The name given by Mark, 
 ' the Blessed,' is used nowhere else in the N. T. in this absolute and 
 undefined way. It heightens, if possible, the idea of the unap- 
 proachable majesty of God, and sharpens, therefore, the blasphemy 
 involved in the claim made by any man to be in the relation of 
 Son to God. 
 
 62. And Jesus said, I am. In Matthew, ' I '! ou hast said' 
 xxvi. 64). At last Caiaphas succeeds, and Jesus breaks his silence. 
 
 For now it is not a question of false and discorda* evidence, but 
 a direct challenge to declare himself, and the moment has come 
 when his Messiahship, long held in reserve, should be openly 
 asserted. 
 
 and ye shall see the Son of man sitting. ' n Matthew the 
 words take the more definite form — ' Henceforth . shall see the 
 
338 ST. MARK 14. 63, 64 
 
 63 coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest 
 rent his clothes, and saith, What further need have \vc 
 
 64 of witnesses ? Ye have heard the blasphemy : what 
 think ye ? And they all condemned him to be worthy 
 
 Son of man,' that is, from that very time onwards (xxvi. 64). 
 Not only is the Messiahship declared, but one of the highest 
 of the prerogatives of the Messiah, that of judgement, is claimed. 
 It is his affirmation of his future exaltation, his note of warning 
 to his judges. His weakness was henceforth to be power; his 
 dishonour was to be glory ; and the arraigned one was to be 
 the Judge. The words recall those of Daniel (vii. 13) and 
 Psalm ex, which were interpreted in a Messianic sense. 'By 
 the reference to well-known prophecy respecting the Messiah, 
 Jesus made his claim as bold and plain as words could make 
 it. This was a representation of the Messiah as the Founder of 
 a kingdom that should take the place of the ancient world-powers, 
 and should continue for ever ' (Clarke). And they would them- 
 selves come to perceive this, for from the time of that death which 
 they designed for him they would see evidences of his Messianic 
 power. 
 
 63. rent his clothes. Rending one's clothes was an ancient 
 sign of passionate sorrow, as in the case of Jacob (Gen. xxxvii. 29). 
 It also became the sign of horror or extreme vexation, as in the 
 case of Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah (2 Kings xviii. 37). It was 
 provided by the Levitical Law that the high priest should not let 
 his hair go loose or rend his clothes (Lev. x. 6, xxi. 10). But this 
 prohibition had regard only to ordinary mourning, not to official 
 acts (cf. 1 Mace. xi. 71 ; Joseph. Jewish War, ii. xv. 4). ' The 
 pain of the high priest no doubt represented the genuine vexation 
 of one who was deeply moved ; but the judgement which he 
 formed regarding Jesus was based on the assumption that he was 
 not the Messiah, and indicates a predisposition to find him guilty 
 of the capital charge' (Meyer). 
 
 What further need have we of witnesses ? Caiaphas sees 
 his way clear new, all the trouble in securing presentable evidence 
 gone, and the Prisoner incriminated by his own confession. 
 
 64. what thi; .c ye? There is no thought of inquiring into 
 his Messianic claims, as there had been no thought of hearing 
 exculpatory evidence earlier. Caiaphas calls for the vote of the 
 court, and in the Sanhedrin the answer was simply 'for life' or 
 ' for death.' 
 
 they all condemned him to he worthy of death. Legally 
 the Jewish coi had no power to give effect to a sentence of 
 death. Thai as reserved for the Roman authority. But the 
 
ST. MARK M. 05 339 
 
 of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover 6,-s 
 his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: 
 and the officers received him with blows of their hands. 
 
 Jewish court could declare one liable to the death penalty, and 
 have their decision confirmed. The members were at one in their 
 judgement. We may infer that men like Joseph of Arimathaia, 
 who ' had not consented to their counsel and deed ' Luke xxiii. 
 51), and Nicodemus, who at an earlier date had put to the Pharisees 
 the question, * Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from 
 himself and know what he doeth?' (John vii. 50, 51), were not 
 present or took no part in the proceedings. The penalty for 
 blasphemy, according to the Mosaic Law, was death, the Jewish 
 mode of carrying it out being by stoning (Lev. xxiv. 16; 1 Kings 
 xxi. 10; John x. 30; Acts vii. 58}. 
 
 65. some began to spit on him. There would be a pause after 
 the giving of the verdict of guilty of death, and the authorities 
 would have to consider further procedure ^cf. Matt, xxvii. 1). 
 Some time would elapse before Jesus was removed and steps 
 taken to get the sentence confirmed. During this interval Jesus 
 would be exposed to those outrages which it was customary to 
 inflict on a condemned prisoner in those days. The 'some' who 
 indulged in these indignities must have been certain members 
 of the Sanhedrin or the guards who held Jesus. Spitting was 
 a Jewish way of shewing utmost contempt and abhorrence (cf. 
 Num. xii. 14 ; Deut. xxv. 9). Seneca notices it as an exceptional 
 thing that a man was found to spit in the face of Aristides the Just 
 at Athens when he was brought to punishment. Luke introduces 
 these indignities as if they had taken place before the meeting of 
 the council ^xxii. 63-65). 
 
 and to cover his face. The Romans were in the habit of 
 covering the heads of condemned criminals. This is omitted by 
 Matthew. 
 
 and to buffet him. That is, to strike him with the fist. The 
 word is used twice by Paul (1 Cor. iv. 11 ; 2 Cor. xii. 7), and once 
 by Peter (1 Pet. ii. 20). In ancient times Micaiah the prophet 
 had been smitten on the check by Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah 
 (1 Kings xxii. 24. 
 
 and to say unto him, Prophesy. Matthew makes the 
 meaning of this clearer — ' Prophesy unto us, thou Christ : who is 
 he that struck thee ? ' xxvi. 68). 
 
 and the officers: or 'attendants. 1 those, namely, of the 
 Sanhedrin. They followed the evil example of the members of 
 the council, but had their own way of expressing their passion. 
 
 received him with blows of their hands : or, as in the 
 margin of the R.V., 'with strokes of rods.' The word means 
 
 Z 2 
 
340 ST. MARK 14. 66-68 
 
 66 And as Peter was beneath in the court, there cometh 
 
 67 one of the maids of the high priest ; and seeing Peter 
 warming himself, she looked upon him, and saith, Thou 
 
 68 also wast with the Nazarene, even Jesus. But he denied, 
 saying, I neither know, nor understand what thou sayest : 
 
 either strokes with sticks, or slaps in the face with the open hand. 
 The fact that this form of abuse seems to be distinguished from 
 the buffeting points to the former. Cf. Isa. 1. 6. 
 
 xiv. 66-72. Peter's Denials : cf. Matt. xxvi. 69-75 ; Luke xxii. 
 56-62 ; John xviii. 25-27. 
 
 66. And as Peter was "beneath in the court. i An oriental 
 house is usually built around a quadrangular interior court, into 
 which there is a passage (sometimes arched) through the front part 
 of the house, closed next the street by a heavy folding-gate with 
 a smaller wicket, kept by a porter' (Robinson, Harmony, 225); 
 The ' court,' or, as it is variously rendered in the A. V., the 'palace 
 or the 'hall,' is this interior area, open to the sky, and in the 
 present case no doubt paved. Here the fire had been lit by the 
 servants, and here Peter stood, while his Master was before 
 the high priest in the regular council-chamber or in some other 
 audience-room somewhat higher than the central area and looking 
 into it. The palace of the high priest was on the north-east 
 corner of mount Zion. So Peter was ' beneath ' as Mark says, and 
 ' without ' as Matthew notices. 
 
 one of the maids. One of the slave-girls employed in the high 
 priest's household ; the term used also of Rhoda (Acts xii. 13), and 
 of the soothsaying girl at Philippi (Acts xvi. 16). 
 
 67. seeing 1 Peter warming' himself, she looked upon him. 
 John speaks of the maid 'that kept the door* (xviii. 17). The 
 portress, therefore, as it seems, had noticed Peter when she gave 
 him admission at John's request ; her attention had been attracted to 
 him again as he stood in the light of the fire. Looking observingly 
 upon him, and recognizing him, she crossed from the gate to where 
 he was standing, and charged him with being with Jesus. The 
 words of the maid are given with considerable variation by the 
 several Evangelists, but with the same sense. The form in Mark, 
 'the Nazarene — Jesus,' admirably reproduces the hasty, broken 
 exclamation of the maid. 
 
 68. neither know, nor understand. Peter's reply is given in 
 various forms in the four reports, but again with substantially the 
 same sense. The double negation in Mark reflects the precipitancy 
 and absoluteness of the denial. Peter disowns all knowledge of 
 the Nazarene, all consciousness even of what the charge meant. 
 
ST. MARK 1 1. 69,70 341 
 
 and he went out into the porch ; and the cock crew. 
 And the maid saw him, and began again to say to them 69 
 that stood by, This is one of them. But he again denied 70 
 it. And after a little while again they that stood by said 
 
 The margin of the R.V. brings this out still more forcibly: 'I 
 neither know, nor understand ; thou, what sayest thou ? ' 
 
 into the porch. His uneasiness and embarrassment make 
 him change his position from the brightness of the fire to the 
 darkness of the vestibule or passage that led from the street-door 
 to the court. 
 
 and the cock crew. This clause is omitted by some of the 
 best and most ancient of our documentary authorities. 
 
 69. And the maid saw him. The four reports differ in the 
 particulars of Peter's denials, as regards the persons and the posi- 
 tions as well as the terms of the accusations and the replies. It is 
 difficult, therefore, to construct an entirely consistent narrative, 
 or to say with certainty at what point or even in what place the 
 various denials occurred. The second charge or question is stated 
 by Matthew to have been made by ; another maid ' : by Mark, by 
 the same maid as is first introduced ; while John's version is, 
 •they said therefore unto him' (xviii. 25). If we follow Mark's 
 account, it will appear that the maid who 'kept the door' had 
 returned to her post of dut}^ in the porch, and repeated her charge 
 there, directing the attention of the people who stood about there 
 to Peter. ' But in the several narratives it is plain that it is not 
 deemed important to specify who addressed Peter ; the important 
 point is his denials. The matter may very naturally be thus 
 arranged : the damsel who first accused him, silenced for the time, 
 but not satisfied with his denial, speaks to another maidservant 
 and points out Peter to her as one whom she knew or believed to 
 be a disciple, and the other maid repeats it. Others, hearing the 
 women, also join with them, perhaps dimly remembering his 
 person, or now noting something peculiar in his manner. That, 
 under the circumstances and in the excitement of the moment, 
 such an accusation, once raised, should be echoed by many, is 
 what we should expect. During the confusion of this questioning 
 Peter returns again to the fire in the interior of the court where 
 most were standing, and there repeats with an oath his denial ' 
 (Andrews, The Life of our Lord, p. 520). 
 
 70. Bnt he again denied it. Matthew tells us that this second 
 denial was uttered ' with an oath.' 
 
 And after a little while. So also Matthew. But Luke gives 
 the interval more explicitly as 'after the space of about one hour' 
 xxii. 59). 
 
 they that stood by. So also in Matthew ; Luke gives simply 
 
342 ST. MARK 14. 
 
 / J 3 / 
 
 to Peter, Of a truth thou art one of them ; for thou art 
 
 71 a Galilaean. But he began to curse, and to swear, I know 
 
 72 not this man of whom ye speak. And straightway the 
 second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind 
 the word, how that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock 
 crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he 
 thought thereon, he wept. 
 
 1 another.' John notices that at this point the accusation against 
 Peter was made in the most definite terms by a slave related to 
 Malchus, who could confirm all that had been said by others: f One 
 of the servants of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose 
 ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him ? ' 
 (xviii. 26). 
 
 for thou art a Galilaean. ' Thy speech bewrayeth thee,' sa3^s 
 Matthew. The people of Northern Palestine had peculiarities 
 of speech by which they were easily distinguished from those of 
 Judaea. Their speech had a certain roughness or thickness, and 
 they had difficulty in pronouncing the gutturals and the th sounds. 
 
 71. he began to curse, and to swear. To 'curse,' that is, to 
 call down an anathema upon himself if his denials were not true 
 (cf. Acts xxiii. 12). Caught at his weakest moment, when his 
 moral courage was lowered and confused by surprise and the 
 shock of a dire disappointment, and drawn bj' the force of 
 circumstances too strong for him at the time from one false step 
 to another, Peter plunges, desperate and reckless, into this last 
 depth of falsehood and disloyalty. 
 
 72. straightway the second time the cock crew. • Imme- 
 diately, while he yet spake,' says Luke (xxii. 60). It was at the 
 very moment of the utterance of his third denial, when the oaths 
 and curses were j^et upon his lips, that Peter heard the fateful 
 cock-crow that again changed all for him. 
 
 called to mind. For the time he had forgotten what Jesus 
 had said in forewarning him. Now it leaps back into his recollec- 
 tion, and breaks him down. Luke alone notices the fact that ' the 
 Lord turned, and looked upon Peter' (xxii. 61). 
 
 when he thought thereon. The Greek word is of uncertain 
 meaning. It has been variously rendered ' he turned his eyes on 
 Jesus' (but it was Jesus who turned his eye on Peter) ; ' he began ' 
 i. e. to weep ; • he continued weeping ' ; ' he added weeping to 
 weeping' ; 'he flung himself forth ' ; he ' drew his mantle over his 
 head.' But the most probable rendering is that adopted both by 
 the A. V. and by the R. V., ' he thought thereon.' 
 
 he wept. The word expresses loud continual weeping. The 
 
ST. MARK 15. 1,2 343 
 
 And straightway in the morning the chief priests with 15 
 the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held 
 a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, 
 and delivered him up to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, 2 
 
 Master's word of warning; which had rushed back into Peter's 
 memory was thought over. As its pathetic circumstances and 
 all that it meant rose upon his mind he was utterly broken, and 
 
 * went out,' as Luke tells us, to be alone with himself in tearful, pas- 
 sionate penitence. 
 
 xv. 1-15. The Trial before Pilate: cf. Matt, xxvii. 1-26; Luke 
 xxiii. 1-5, 13-25 ; John xviii. 28-40, xix. 4-16. 
 
 1. straightway in the morning". After being taken from 
 Annas to Caiaphas and subjected to a preliminary questioning by 
 the latter, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin in the council- 
 chamber of Caiaphas, probably at one or two o'clock in the 
 morning, and formally tried and condemned. The Sanhedrin, 
 having so far done their work, had adjourned. But they now 
 assemble again at break of day, in order to consult how to bring 
 Jesus before the Roman procurator, who alone had the power of 
 the sword. "The chief priests,' says Mark, 'with the elders and 
 scribes, and the whole council.' The hierarchy, therefore, took 
 the lead in the proceedings, but the other orders were at one 
 with them, and what followed the consultation was the act of the 
 whole council. 
 
 bound Jesus . . . delivered him up to Pilate. The Feast 
 had begun. The risk of an outbreak when the adherents of Jesus 
 gathered in their numbers was great. The Jewish authorities, 
 knowingthat there was no time to lose if they were to escape such 
 dangers, took instant action, and carried off their prisoner securely 
 bound at once to Pilate. The Evangelists give only general 
 indications of the time — 'when morning was come* (Matthew \ 
 
 • in the morning' (Mark), ' as soon as it was day ' (Luke ), ' it was 
 early' (John). But as Roman courts did not meet before sunrise, 
 and gave no judgement before 6 a.m., it was probably 5 or 6 a.m. 
 when Jesus was taken before the Roman Procurator. John states 
 that he was led into 'the palace' or pra-torium (xviii. 28). It is 
 difficult to say whether the place in question was the palace of 
 Herod the Great, a magnificent marble structure on the north side 
 of Zion, occupied for the time by Pilate, or the fortress of Antonia 
 or a residence near that. 
 
 Pilate. On the deposition and banishment of Archelaus in 
 a. d. 6, Judaea was united to Syria and put under the a\vi irity of the 
 Syrian governor or legate. But, subject to this overlordship, it was 
 ruled immediately by a procurator sent from Rome (Joseph. Antiq. 
 
342 ST. MARK 14. 71,72 
 
 to Peter, Of a truth thou art one of them ; for thou art 
 
 71 a Galilaean. But he began to curse, and to swear, I know 
 
 72 not this man of whom ye speak. And straightway the 
 second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind 
 the word, how that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock 
 crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he 
 thought thereon, he wept. 
 
 ' another.' John notices that at this point the accusation against 
 Peter was made in the most definite terms by a slave related to 
 Malchus, who could confirm all that had been said by others: f One 
 of the servants of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose 
 ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him ? ' 
 (xviii. 26). 
 
 for thou art a Galilaean. ' Thy speech bewrayeth thee/ sa3?s 
 Matthew. The people of Northern Palestine had peculiarities 
 of speech by which they were easily distinguished from those of 
 Judaea. Their speech had a certain roughness or thickness, and 
 they had difficulty in pronouncing the gutturals and the th sounds. 
 
 71. he began to curse, and to swear. To i curse,' that is, to 
 call down an anathema upon himself if his denials were not true 
 fcf. Acts xxiii. 12). Caught at his weakest moment, when his 
 moral courage was lowered and confused by surprise and the 
 shock of a dire disappointment, and drawn bj' the force of 
 circumstances too strong for him at the time from one false step 
 to another, Peter plunges, desperate and reckless, into this last 
 depth of falsehood and disloyalty. 
 
 72. straightway the second time the cock crew. • Imme- 
 diately, while he yet spake/ says Luke (xxii. 60). It was at the 
 very moment of the utterance of his third denial, when the oaths 
 and curses were 3'et upon his lips, that Peter heard the fateful 
 cock-crow that again changed all for him. 
 
 called to mind. For the time he had forgotten what Jesus 
 had said in forewarning him. Now it leaps back into his recollec- 
 tion, and breaks him down. Luke alone notices the fact that 'the 
 Lord turned, and looked upon Peter' (xxii. 61). 
 
 when he thought thereon. The Greek word is of uncertain 
 meaning. It has been variously rendered ' he turned his eyes on 
 Jesus' (but it was Jesus who turned his eye on Peter) ; ' he began ' 
 i. e. to weep ; ' he continued weeping ' ; ' he added weeping to 
 weeping' ; 'he flung himself forth' ; he ' drew his mantle over his 
 head.' But the most probable rendering is that adopted both by 
 the A. V. and by the R. V., ' he thought thereon.' 
 
 he wept. The word expresses loud continual weeping. The 
 
ST. MARK 15. 1,2 343 
 
 And straightway in the morning the chief priests with 15 
 the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held 
 a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, 
 and delivered him up to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, a 
 
 Master's word of warning which had rushed back into Peter's 
 memory was thought over. As its pathetic circumstances and 
 all that it meant rose upon his mind he was utterly broken, and 
 ' went out,' as Luke tells us, to be alone with himself in tearful, pas- 
 sionate penitence. 
 
 xv. 1-15. The Trial before Pilate : cf. Matt, xxvii. 1-26 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 1-5, 13-25 ; John xviii. 28-40, xix. 4-16. 
 
 1. straightway in the morning. After being taken from 
 Annas to Caiaphas and subjected to a preliminary questioning by 
 the latter, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin in the council- 
 chamber of Caiaphas, probably at one or two o'clock in the 
 morning, and formally tried and condemned. The Sanhedrin, 
 having so far done their work, had adjourned. But they now 
 assemble again at break of day, in order to consult how to bring 
 Jesus before the Roman procurator, who alone had the power of 
 the sword. • The chief priests,' says Mark, ' with the elders and 
 scribes, and the whole council.' The hierarchy, therefore, took 
 the lead in the proceedings, but the other orders were at one 
 with them, and what followed the consultation was the act of the 
 whole council. 
 
 bound Jesus . . . delivered him up to Pilate. The Feast 
 had begun. The risk of an outbreak when the adherents of Jesus 
 gathered in their numbers was great. The Jewish authorities, 
 knowing that there was no time to lose if they were to escape such 
 dangers, took instant action, and carried off their prisoner securely 
 bound at once to Pilate. The Evangelists give only general 
 indications of the time — 'when morning was come' (Matthew \ 
 • in the morning' (Mark), ' as soon as it was day ' (Luke\ ' it was 
 early ' (John). But as Roman courts did not meet before sunrise, 
 snd gave no judgement before 6 a.m., it was probably 5 or 6 a.m. 
 when Jesus was taken before the Roman Procurator. John states 
 that he was led into 'the palace' or prcetorium (xviii. 28). It is 
 difficult to say whether the place in question was the palace of 
 Herod the Great, a magnificent marble structure on the north side 
 of Zion, occupied for the time by Pilate, or the fortress of Antonia 
 or a residence near that. 
 
 Pilate. On the deposition and banishment of Archelaus in 
 a. d. 6, Juda=ra was united to Syria and put under the au£fc>rkyof the 
 Syrian governor or legate. But, subject to this overlordship, it was 
 ruled immediately by a procurator sent from Rome (Joseph. Antiq. 
 
344 ST, MARK 15. 3 
 
 Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering saith 
 3 unto him, Thou sayest. And the chief priests accused 
 
 xvii. xiii. 5, xviii. i. 1 , Jewish War, ii. viii. 1). The procurator lived 
 at Caesarea on the Sea (Acts xxiii. 23 ; Joseph. Jewish War, ii. ix. 
 2], but came up to Jerusalem at the Passover season in order to 
 keep order. The fifth in the series of procurators of Judaea was 
 Pontius Pilate, who succeeded Valerius Gratus in a.d. 25-26, and 
 brought with him into Palestine his wife Procla or Claudia Procula. 
 He is referred to, not only in the narratives of Passion Week, but 
 elsewhere in the N. T. (Luke iii. 1, xiii. 1 ; Acts iv. 27 ; 1 Tim. vi. 
 13), and is named by the Roman historian Tacitus as the ' pro- 
 curator by whom, in the reign of Tiberius, Christ had been punished ' 
 {Annals, xv. 44). His character is drawn both by Josephus 
 (Antiq. xviii, Jewish JVar, ii. ix. 2ff.) and by Philo the Jew (De 
 Leg. 38). The latter represents him as given over, in his public life, 
 to rapacity, corruption, ruthlessness, and all manner of oppression 
 and wrong. The N. T. indicates the savage cruelty of his rule 
 (Luke xiii. 1). It represents him at the same time as having 
 something of the sense of justice proper to a Roman judge, 
 though vacillating in purpose and not strong enough to give effect 
 to it in opposition to the pressure put upon him by the relentless 
 Jews. 
 
 2. asked him, Art thou the King" of the Jews? Pilate met 
 the Jews outside ; as John explains, because they were too 
 scrupulous to enter the palace of the heathen ruler, lest they should 
 be defiled and so prevented from taking part in the Passover. 
 After this first interview with the Jewish authorities Pilate entered 
 the palace again, and summoning Jesus before him (John xviii. 33), 
 put to him the question recorded by all the four Evangelists. 
 How did Pilate come to put such a question to Jesus? The answer 
 probably is that the Jews had charged Jesus with making regal 
 claims, giving the Messianic title ' King of the Jews ' a political 
 meaning. This accords with the fuller statement which Luke 
 gives of the accusation as one essentially of sedition : ' We found 
 this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to 
 Caesar, and sa}'ing that he himself is Christ a king' (xxiii. 2). 
 The question was a private and preliminary one, and its form 
 suggests, as Westcott thinks, 'a feeling of surprise on the part 
 of the questioner.' 
 
 Thou sayest: an affirmative reply, calmly given. John 
 shews us how Jesus first asked Pilate why he put such a question 
 to him, and then explained in what sense he claimed to be king 
 and whatovanner of kingdom his was (xviii. 34-38). 
 
 3. the chief priests accused him of many thing's. The 
 Jewish officials remain without, and begin to be joined by the 
 
ST. MARK 15. 4-7 345 
 
 him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, saying, 4 
 answerest thou nothing ? behold how many things they 
 accuse thee of. But Jesus no more answered anything ; 5 
 insomuch that Pilate marvelled. 
 
 Now at the feast he used to release unto them one 6 
 prisoner, whom they asked of him. And there was one 7 
 
 mob (Luke xxiii. 4). After the brief, private inquiry, Pilate comes 
 forth again, and gives the Jews to understand, as Luke (xxiii. 4) 
 and John (xviii. 38 tell us, that he found no fault in the accused. 
 This provokes a fresh burst of accusations on the part of the Jews, 
 who clamour with furious insistence about his stirring up the 
 people, ' teaching throughout all Judaea, and beginning from Galilee 
 even unto this place ' (Luke xxiii. 5). 
 
 4. Pilate again asked him. His conviction of the innocence 
 of Jesus being perhaps somewhat shaken by these new and 
 serious charges, Pilate further questions him, but elicits no reply. 
 The governor marvels at the tranquil, dignified silence maintained 
 by Jesus in the face of the fierce storm of accusations. He is 
 embarrassed ; and, as Luke suggests, who introduces here his 
 report of the compearance before Herod, he catches at the mention 
 of Galilee as the scene of the first teaching of Jesus. He asks 
 more particularly about this, and learning from the accusers them- 
 selves that Jesus was 'of Herod's jurisdiction, 1 he sends him on 
 to that prince. But Herod sent him back to Pilate (Luke xxiii. 
 6-12). 
 
 6. Now at the feast he used to release unto them one 
 prisoner. Some have taken this to mean that at each of the 
 great festivals the custom was to release a prisoner. But the 
 reference is to the Passover feast, as John explains (xviii. 39). Of 
 the custom itself nothing definite is known be3 T ond what is stated 
 here. There is no mention of it in the later Jewish writings. It is 
 supposed by some to have originated in the Maccabean age, or 
 even at an earlier period than that. Others think it was intro- 
 duced by the Romans with a view to conciliating the Jews. 
 
 whom they asked of him. The point of the concession la}' 
 in the fact that the selection of the prisoner was left to the Jews 
 themselves. Pilate's second expedient for relief was to take 
 advantage of this custom. Comparing the several narratives, we 
 see that, when Jesus was sent back by Herod, Pilate called the 
 Jewish authorities and the people together again (Luke xxiii. 13), 
 and seated himself upon the judgement-seat 'Matt, xxvii. 19% with 
 the intention of declaring Jesus guiltless and ending the trial. It 
 was the custom for the procurator, when lie was to give his judge- 
 
346 ST. MARK 15. 8-10 
 
 called Barabbas, lying bound with them that had made 
 insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed 
 
 8 murder. And the multitude went up and began to ask 
 
 9 him to do as he was wont to do unto them. And Pilate 
 answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you 
 
 10 the King of the Jews ? For he perceived that for envy 
 
 ment in a trial, to take his seat on a movable tribunal. In the 
 present case, as -we learn from John, this tribunal was set up ' at 
 a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha ' (xix. 13). 
 Here Pilate formally declares that neither he nor Herod found 
 any fault in the accused, and announces his intention to scourge 
 him and then to release him. His idea probably was to set Jesus 
 free under the custom referred to, but without consulting the 
 people. He thought in this way not only to satisfy his own sense 
 of justice, but to please the people by releasing a prisoner whom 
 he imagined they would value, and to propitiate the Sanhedrin 
 by chastising Jesus. But he pleased no one. 
 
 7. Barabbas. Some ancient authorities give the name as Jesus 
 Barabbas. The name Bar- Abba was a common name, at least in 
 later Judaism. Of this Barabbas nothing certain is known beyond 
 what we gather from the Gospels, namely, that he was a robber 
 (John xviii. 40) ; that he had stirred up a serious disturbance in 
 the city and had been guilty of murder (Mark xv. 7 ; Luke xxiii. 
 19) ; and that at the time he was lying a prisoner along with his 
 fellow insurgents, charged with faction and murder. He was 
 probably one of those fierce and uncompromising patriots, known 
 as the party of the Zealots, who hated the Roman rule with an 
 invincible hatred, and gave constant trouble to the Roman gover- 
 nors and the Roman soldiery. Barabbas was guilty of the very 
 crime, that of sedition, which the Sanhedrin tried to fasten un- 
 justly upon Jesus. 
 
 8. the multitude . . . began to ask him. The people were not 
 to be balked of their right, and Pilate thought that, as it was 
 obviously envy of the favour and influence Jesus had won with 
 the multitude that had induced the hierarchy to accuse him, the 
 people were likely to choose Jesus for release. He let them 
 have their usual right of choice, therefore, only suggesting by his 
 question, ' Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews ? ' 
 the selection that might please him as well as them. But in this 
 appeal to the people he was defeated by the counter-appeal of 
 the chief priests. We are not told how the people were induced 
 to prefer Barabbas. But there may have been a secret sympathy 
 with the insurgents on which the chief priests contrived to play. 
 
ST. MARK 15. 1115 347 
 
 the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief u 
 priests stirred up the multitude, that he should rather 
 release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate again answered 12 
 and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him 
 whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried 13 
 out again, Crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, 14 
 Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out 
 exceedingly, Crucify him. And Pilate, wishing to content 15 
 
 12. What then shall I do unto hint whom ye call the King* 
 of the Jews ? It was probably when he was thus unexpectedly 
 disappointed of his hopes of a way out of his difficulty that he 
 received the disturbing message from his wife which is recorded by 
 Matthew (xxvii. 19). His uneasiness is increased by this, and he 
 asks in angered perplexity what is to be done with him who was 
 no robber or murderer, but ostensibly their king. Their answer, 
 instigated no doubt by the chief priests, was short and sharp — 
 ' Crucify him.' 
 
 14. Why, what evil hath he done? Expostulation was the 
 governor's next device. But its only effect was to make the 
 insensate people clamour the more vehemently for the crucifixion 
 of their King. 
 
 15. Pilate, wishing" to content the multitude. At this point 
 Matthew records how Pilate ' took water, and washed his hands 
 before the multitude' I xxvii. 24), an incident which is reported 
 only by him. This was a Jewish ceremony ^Deut. xxi. 6 ; Joseph. 
 Antiq. iv. viii. 16 . symbolical of one's guiltlessness in the matter ot 
 the shedding of blood. Similar sj'mbolical rites were practised 
 by the Greeks, only after a case of murder, not before it (Herod, 
 i. 35; Virgil, A en. ii. 719). It was also the custom for heathen 
 judges when about to pass sentence to protest their innocence of 
 the blood of the person whom the}- were to condemn to death 
 
 see Meyer on Matt, xxvii. 24V His fear of the Jewish mob. 
 working on his fatal irresolution, beats down all the governor's 
 scruples, and at last extorts from him the irrevocable order. The 
 Fourth Gospel, with its more detailed account, best enables us to 
 understand how Pilate struggled against the meshes that were 
 closing in about him. It diews us how he went once and again 
 into the palace, and once and again faced the people : how 
 he brought Jesus out wearing the crown of thorns and the 
 purple garment, and called on the mob, in a last appeal to 
 their pity, or in fierce mockery of their Messianic ideas, to 
 1 behold the man ' ; how he would have had the Jews take Jesus 
 
348 ST. MARK 15. 16 
 
 the multitude, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered 
 Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. 
 1 6 And the soldiers led him away within the court, which 
 is the Praetorium ; and they call together the whole band. 
 
 away and themselves crucif}' him ; how at last they declared 
 the real cause of their offence with him — his claim to be the Son 
 of God ; how the judge, the more afraid when he heard this, took 
 Jesus again within and interrogated him in private ; and how the 
 long conflict between the Jewish accusers and the Roman judge 
 ended in triumph for the former when they tried the hesitating 
 governor with the crafty cry, ' Thou art not Csesar's friend ' (John 
 xix. 1-14). 
 
 when he had scourged him. This particular word is found 
 in the N. T. only here and in the parallel passage in Matthew. 
 Roman scourging inflicted suffering so terrible that often the 
 victim died under it. The scourging before crucifixion was 
 usually done by lictors (Joseph. Jewish War, ii. xiv. 9, v. xi. 1) ; 
 but in our Lord's case it was done by the soldiers. The sufferer 
 was bound to a low pillar. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 
 a broken porphjuy column, known as the Column of Flagellation, 
 is shewn as the pillar to which our Lord was bound. Another 
 column with similar pretensions is shewn at Rome. 
 
 xv. 16-20. The Mockery of the Soldiers : cf. Matt, xxvii. 27-31 ; 
 John xix. 2, 3. This incident is omitted by Luke. 
 
 16. the soldiers: Matthew explains that these were the 
 soldiers of 'the governor' (xxvii. 27). Those of Herod had 
 been mentioned by Luke (xxiii. 11). These Roman soldiers had 
 to see to the execution of the sentence. The}' consisted probably 
 of a few men with a centurion, and formed part of the band or 
 cohort stationed in Jerusalem, no doubt in the castle of Antonia 
 (Acts xxi. 31). 
 
 within the court : the scourging had taken place, therefore, 
 outside in front of the palace. Jesus is now brought into the 
 open courtyard. 
 
 the Praetorium : the word is used of the tent or head quarters 
 of a commander in a Roman camp. But in the Gospels and the 
 Book of Acts it means the official residence of a governor 
 (cf. Acts xxiii. 35). Opinion is divided, as we have said, on the 
 subject of the place in view here. Some hold that Herod's palace 
 was used by the Roman procurator as his official residence for 
 the time. Josephus tells us indeed that it was so used by Florus 
 (Jewish IVar, ii. xiv. 8 ). Others, pointing to the fact that Herod 
 was himself in Jerusalem at the time, and noticing that the view 
 which the Gospels give of the proceedings in connexion with the 
 
ST. MARK 15. 17- 20 349 
 
 And they clothe him with purple, and plaiting a crown 17 
 of thorns, they put it on him ; and they began to salute 1 8 
 him, Hail, King of the Jews ! And they smote his head iy 
 with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their 
 knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked 20 
 him, they took off from him the purple, and put on 
 him his garments. And they lead him out to crucify him. 
 
 trial best accords with a position near the citadel, conclude with 
 more probability that the Prcetorium was connected with the 
 fortress of Antonia. 
 
 the whole band. The word ' band ' is of somewhat uncertain 
 application. It may mean a maniple, which was the third of 
 a cohort and consisted nominally of 200 men. But, as the ' band ' 
 is said to have a chiliarch or ' chief captain ' (John xviii. 12 ; Acts 
 xxi. 31), it is supposed to have the sense of cohort in the N.T. 
 
 17. with purple: or, as Matthew gives it, i a. scarlet robe.' 
 Jesus had been stripped of his clothing when led forth to be 
 scourged. His under-garments had been put on again when he 
 was brought back into the court. Now Pilate's soldiers, imitating 
 the mockery practised by Herod and his men when they sent 
 Jesus back 'arrayed in gorgeous apparel' (Luke xxiii. 11), put 
 upon him in place of his upper robes a red cloak, probably the 
 ordinary military cloak, ' possibly a cast-off and faded rag, but 
 with colour enough left in it to suggest the royal purple ' (Swete). 
 This they did in ridicule of his kingly pretensions. 
 
 a crown of thorns : in derisive imitation of the laurel wreath, 
 the badge of victory, worn at times by the Roman emperors in 
 token of military distinction or on festal occasions. This wreath 
 was made of twisted spikes of some sort of thorn, probably the 
 tiabk tree. The precise species of thorn, however, cannot be 
 determined with certainty. 
 
 18. to salute him. Matthew notices that a reed was put into 
 his right hand (xxvii. 29). to represent a sceptre. 
 
 18. smote his head with a reed. The mock homage offered 
 him was accompanied or followed by cruel blows and insults. 
 When the soldiers had enough of outrage and brutality, they took 
 off the red cloak and clad Jesus again in his own garments. See 
 his prediction in chap. x. 33, 34. 
 
 20. they lead him out to crucify him. The O. T. law forbade 
 the camp to be defiled with blood Num. xv. 35). Naboth was 
 stoned without d Kings xxi. 13 ... So was it with the Holy City. 
 Stephen was stoned without (Acts vii. 58). and his Lord before 
 him was taken outside the city to be crucified (cf. Heb. xiii. 12). 
 
35© ST. MARK 15. 21 
 
 i\ And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, 
 coming from the country, the father of Alexander and 
 
 It is not possible to determine with any certainty the route by 
 which Jesus was led from the judgement-hall to the place of 
 crucifixion. Jerusalem has passed through too many changes to 
 enable us to trace the Lord's course. Tradition defines it as the 
 way called the Via Dolorosa running across the city from the 
 fortress of Antonia to the Holy Sepulchre. But the name, if not 
 the tradition itself, can scarcely be traced as far back as the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 xv. 21-32. The incidents on the way to the Cross, and at the Cross : 
 cf. Matt, xxvii. 32-44 ; Luke xxiii. 26-43 > John xix. 16-26. 
 
 21. they compel one passing - hy. Matthew tells us that this 
 happened ; as they came out ' (xxvii. 32), probably just as they left 
 the gate. The man was on his way from the country, as Mark and 
 Luke both state, and the soldiers arrested him as he was passing by 
 and forced him to go with them. The word translated ' compel ' 
 is better rendered ' impress,' as in the R. V. margin. It is a word 
 of foreign origin, used in particular of the couriers of the Kings 
 of Persia, who were impressed into the monarch's service. It 
 came to be applied to any kind of compulsory service. It is 
 the word that is rendered ' compel ' also once in the Sermon 
 on the Mount (Matt. v. 41). 
 
 Simon of Cyrene. The name of the person thus impressed 
 by the soldiers is given by all the three Synoptists, though not 
 by John. He belonged to Cyrene in North Africa. We learn 
 from Josephus that a body of Jews settled there in the time of 
 Ptolemy I, and had a considerable position among the people 
 (Cont. Ap. 4, Antiq. xiv. vii. 2). In the N. T. there are other 
 references to this district. Dwellers in 'the parts about* Cyrene 
 were among those in Jerusalem on the great day of Pentecost 
 (Acts ii. 10) : Cyrenians are mentioned in connexion with the 
 synagogue of the Libertines (Acts vi. 9) ; a Lucius of Cyrene 
 is named among the prophets and teachers of the Church of 
 Antioch (Acts xiii. 1). 
 
 the father of Alexander and Rufus. Mark alone describes 
 Simon thus by his sons. We infer from the statement that they 
 became persons of some distinction in the Church. But neither of 
 Simon himself nor of these sons do we know anything beyond 
 what we find here. Some endeavour to identify this Alexander 
 with one or other of the Alexanders mentioned in the Book of 
 Acts and the Pauline Epistles, the Alexander who ' would have 
 made a defence unto the people' at Ephesus (Acts xix. 33), the 
 one introduced along with Hymenseus (1 Tim. i. 20), or the 
 
ST. MARK 15. 32,iaa 35? 
 
 Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross. 
 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which 22 
 is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they 23 
 
 one known as ' the coppersmith ' (2 Tim. iv. 14 . But the re- 
 lations of these men to Paul make this identification extremely 
 improbable. 
 
 that lie might bear his cro3s. It is stated by Plutarch that 
 it was the custom to make the condemned man carry his own 
 cross, and ancient paintings shew it to have been the belief of the 
 early Church that Jesus bore the whole cross. It is more probable, 
 however, that only a part of it was borne, namely the patibultou, 
 the post or upright beam, to which the transverse beam was 
 affixed when the cross was about to be erected. Some (e. g. 
 Keim), with less probability, think the cross-beam was all that was 
 put upon our Lord's back on the way. John mentions that Jesus 
 'went out. bearing the cross for himself (xix. 17). It appears, 
 therefore, that our Lord bore the cross at least to the city gate. 
 There, outside the gate, his strength probably gave way, and 
 Simon was compelled to relieve him of the painful burden. At 
 this point Luke introduces the incident of the women of Jerusalem 
 bewailing Jesus. 
 
 22. the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The 
 place of a skull. Matthew gives the name without the ex- 
 planation, writing as he does for Jewish readers. Luke says 
 ' the place which is called The skull,' omitting the Aramaic word 
 Golgotha. John is more precise, ; the place called The place 
 of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.' This ' place of 
 a skull ' was rendered locus Calvariae in the Vulgate Version. We 
 owe the word Calvary to the fact that the Old English versions 
 followed the Vulgate in their renderings of Luke's Gospel here. 
 Wyclif, e. g. gives ' the place of Calvarie.' The name Golgotha 
 indicates that the place was a low, bare, skull-shaped knoll or 
 mound. It seems to have been well known. The Gospels 
 indicate that it was outside the city, yet near it (John xix. 20), 
 on a road leading from the country into the city i^Lukc xxiii. 26,, 
 and having a garden in it or, as we may rather suppose, by it 
 John xix. 41). But its exact position cannot be determined with 
 any certainty. It can scarcely be the traditional Mount Calvary, 
 which is within the city. It has been placed on the west bank of 
 the Kidron north of St. Stephen's Gate (so Dr. Thomson) ; on the 
 hill north-east of Herod's Gate (Sir C. Wilson, &c.) ; on the hill 
 without the present wall, north-east of the Damascus Gate ; on 
 the ' Skull Hill ' or ' Grotto Hill,' near the Damascus Gate, above 
 the grotto of Jeremiah, and elsewhere. But there is no general 
 agreement on the subject. 
 
352 ST. MARK 15. 24-26 
 
 offered him wine mingled with myrrh : but he received 
 
 24 it not. And they crucify him, and part his garments 
 among them, casting lots upon them, what each should 
 
 25 take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified 
 
 26 him. And the superscription of his accusation was 
 
 23. offered him wine mingled with myrrh. Matthew 
 describes it as wine ' mingled with gall' (xxvii. 34). Both were 
 stupefying potions. It was customary to offer such drugged wine 
 to those about to undergo crucifixion, in order to make them 
 less sensible of pain. Jesus tasted this drink (Matt, xxvii. 34), 
 but refused it. 
 
 24. part his garments. The clothing of the condemned was 
 the perquisite of the soldiers on duty at executions. 
 
 casting- lots. Probably they had dice with them for their 
 amusement : these would serve the purpose. John, who was an 
 eye-witness of the scene, makes a distinction here. He speaks 
 of the l garments,' as distinguished from the 'coat/ as being 
 divided into four parts, one for each man in the quaternion of 
 soldiers. This they might do by loosening the seams. But the 
 ' coat' or 'tunic/ which was woven of one piece, was not divided, 
 but assigned in whole to one by lot. John adds that in this 
 way the words of Ps. xxii. 18 were fulfilled (xix. 23, 24). 
 
 25. it was the third hour. Mark alone gives this particular 
 note of time. John, on the other hand, says it was ' about the 
 sixth hour' when Pilate brought Jesus out and took his seat 
 for judgement (xix. 14). Various explanations of this apparent 
 discrepancy have been given. Of these the most probable is the 
 supposition that Mark and John here follow different modes of 
 reckoning time, the latter having the Roman division of time 
 in view, which would make the 'sixth hour' about six a.m. 
 Dr. Edersheim is of opinion that Jesus was brought forth by 
 Pilate at the sixth hour of the Roman calculation, and that he 
 was led out to crucifixion at the third hour according to the 
 Jewish reckoning, which would be the ninth of the Roman or 
 Western reckoning (Temple Service, p. 174). But the question 
 remains an unsettled one. In any case, however, it should be 
 remembered that the ancients did not observe those very exact 
 divisions of time to which we are accustomed, and that of the two 
 statements in view Mark's is the more definite, while John's 
 is the more general. 
 
 26. the superscription of his accusation. It was customary 
 to have the cause of condemnation inscribed on a tablet, which 
 was fastened to the prisoner or borne before him as he was led to 
 execution. This was afterwards fastened to the cross itself, above 
 
ST. MARK 15. 27-32 353 
 
 written over, the king of the jews. And with him 27 
 they crucify two robbers ; one on his right hand, and 
 one on his left. And they that passed by railed on him, 29 
 wagging their heads, and saying, Ha ! thou that destroyest 
 the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, 30 
 and come down from the cross. In like manner also 31 
 the chief priests mocking him among themselves with 
 the scribes said, He saved others ; himself he cannot 
 save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come 3 2 
 
 the sufferer's head. There were several kinds of crosses— the 
 St. Andrew's cross in the shape of the letter X ; St. Anthony's 
 cross, also known as the Egyptian or the Greek cross, with the 
 form T ; and the Latin cross, which was of this shape -f" . The 
 mention of the superscription as ' written over,' < over him ' as Luke 
 gives it, put 'on the cross' as John expresses it, points to the 
 third as the kind of cross to which our Lord was nailed. The 
 terms of the superscription are given with certain variations in 
 the Gospels, but in each the significant words ' the King of the 
 Jews,' which indicated the real cause of offence, are found. From 
 John (xix. 20) we learn that the title was written not only in the 
 official Latin, but also in Hebrew and Greek. 
 
 2*7. two robbers: or, according to Luke, 'malefactors.' Not 
 1 thieves,' but perhaps members of the insurgent band of Barabbas, 
 desperate, fanatical patriots, who might be heroes in the eyes of 
 the Jewish mob. 
 
 28. The A. V. introduces here the verse ' And the scripture 
 was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the 
 transgressors.' The documentary evidence in support of it 
 however is doubtful. The quotation from Isa. liii. 12 is given 
 by Luke at an earlier stage (xxii. 37). 
 
 29. Ha! The exclamation here is one of derision or ironical 
 amazement. This is its only occurrence in the N. T. 
 
 thou that destroyest the temple. The accusation of the 
 two witnesses before Caiaphas (Matt. xxvi. 6r ; Mark xiv. 58). 
 It had been made matter of common talk. 
 
 31. the chief priests : even these dignitaries could not restrain 
 themselves. They too joined in the mockery, not with the crowd 
 indeed, but passing their jeers from mouth to mouth among them- 
 selves, the scribes and elders uniting with them (Matt, xxvii. 41). 
 The taunt in which they indulge, ' He saved others ; himself he 
 cannot save' (or, 'can he not save himself?'), appears to be an 
 echo of Psalm xxii. 8. 
 
 A a 
 
354 ST. MARK 15. 33, .H 
 
 down from the cross, that we may see and believe. And 
 they that were crucified with him reproached him. 
 
 33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness 
 
 34 over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the 
 ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama 
 
 32. tliey that were crucified with him: so also Matthew. 
 Luke refers only to one of the malefactors as railing on Jesus, 
 and adds the rebuke administered to him by his fellow criminal, 
 his petition to Jesus, and the answer it received (xxiii. 39-43 I. 
 From Luke we learn also that the soldiers joined with others in 
 the common, savage derision (xxiii. 36). 
 
 xv. 33-41. The Last Hours and the Events attendant on the 
 Death : cf. Matt, xxvii. 45-56 ; Luke xxiii. 44-49 ; John xix. 
 38-37. 
 
 33. the sixth hour: so also Matthew. Luke gives it less 
 precisely 'about the sixth hour.' 
 
 there was darkness : Luke explains that it was due to ' the 
 sun's light failing' (xxiii. 45). 
 
 over the whole land until the ninth hour : that is, from 
 12 noon till 3 p.m. This darkness cannot be explained either 
 as the kind of darkness that is known to precede earthquakes, 
 or as the result of an ordinary eclipse. An eclipse at the 
 Paschal full moon is an impossibility. It must be understood, 
 according to the Gospel narratives, to have been a gloom out of the 
 ordinary course of nature, in which all that happened during the 
 last three hours of the Saviour's Passion was shrouded from view. 
 How far this darkness extended is not certain. The phrase ' over 
 all the land' ma}' also mean 'over all the earth.' It is not easy 
 to say, therefore, whether the statement means that the gloom 
 covered all the land of Judaea or extended over the earth. It 
 is most natural to take the more limited application. But on 
 the other hand the phrase, though an indefinite one, is usually 
 employed in a wider sense (Gen. i. 26, xi. 9 ; Ps. xxxiii. 8 ; Luke 
 xxi. 35 ; Rev. xiii. 3), and it may be said that the idea of a 
 cosmic portent suits the tone of the narrative better than that of 
 a local gloom. 
 
 34. at the ninth hour : that is, the hour for the evening 
 sacrifice ; cf. Acts iii. 1. 
 
 Jesus cried with a loud voice : the cry was rather a shout, 
 the strong note of a conqueror, than the feeble voice of one 
 exhausted. The strength or loudness of the voice of the d3'ing 
 Jesus is noticed also by Luke in the case of his final utterance 
 from the cross (xxiii. 46 . 
 
 Eloi, Eloi, lama sahachthani? The cry is given by Mark 
 
ST. MARK 15. 35, 36 355 
 
 sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me ? And some of them 35 
 that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth 
 Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, 36 
 
 in the vernacular, with a translation for the benefit of his Gentile 
 readers. At this crisis in his sufferings, when mental agony is 
 more than all his physical pain, Jesus expresses his sense of 
 anguish in the words of the sufferer in one of the great Messianic 
 psalms (Ps. xxii. 1 . It cannot be explained simply as the recoil of 
 nature from the pangs of dissolution, or as the bitter feeling of being 
 abandoned by men. It is the cry of one who has lost for the time 
 the sense of fellowship with God — the cry of conscious innocence 
 struggling with this unexampled experience, in utter darkness 
 clinging to faith and trusting itself to God, but unable to say 
 Father, bereft for a season of the gladness of realized fellowship. 
 It is the note of an experience too deep for us to fathom, and 
 possible only to one standing in a relation different from ours to 
 man and his sin. and to God and His grace. This is the only cry 
 from the cross that is recorded either by Matthew or by Mark. 
 That there were other six we learn from Luke and John. The 
 most probable order in which these cries occurred is this : — 
 (1) The prayer for the forgiveness of his enemies (Luke xxiii. 34). 
 (3) The promise to the penitent robber (Luke xxiii. 43V (3) The 
 charge to Mary and to John (John xix. 26, 27). These three 
 before the darkness. Then during the darkness : (41 this cry of 
 desertion (Matt, xxvii. 46 ; Mark xv. 34). And after the darkness 
 these three: (5) the exclamation 'I thirst' (John xix. 28). 
 6 The declaration 'It is finished' (John xix. 30". {f) The 
 final commendation of his spirit to God (Luke xxiii. 46). 
 
 35. Behold, he calleth Elijah. Not an innocent misunder- 
 standing, surely, of his cry, but a fresh insult, a poor, unfeeling 
 attempt at banter, taking advantage of the similarity in Hebrew 
 or Aramaic between the word for God and the name of the 
 prophet. The point of the cruel witticism lay in the connexion 
 which Elijah had with the Messiah in popular belief. 
 
 36. filling- a sponge fall of vinegar. From Luke we see that 
 a similar drink had been offered earlier by the soldiers in mockery, 
 and had been refused by Jesus (xxiii. 36). Now one of those 
 standing by runs to give him something to relieve his thirst. 
 Deadly thirst added to the awful pangs of crucifixion. The drink 
 offered at this point was 'vinegar,' that is to say, the sour 
 wine drunk by the common soldier and the labourer in the field 
 
 Ruth ii. 14). John tells us that a vessel of this was • set there,' 
 whether for the soldiers' use or expressly lor the relief of the 
 
 A a 2 
 
356 ST. MARK 15. 37-39 
 
 put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let 
 be ; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him down. 
 
 37 And Jesus uttered a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 
 
 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the 
 
 39 top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which 
 
 sufferers. It is said that not unfrequently a drink of this kind was 
 kept at hand for the purpose. On this occasion a sponge was 
 dipped in the wine, and put upon a reed, a stalk of hyssop to 
 wit, and 1 brought to his mouth ' (John xix. 29). The hyssop 
 was a wall-plant, perhaps the same as the caper, which was used 
 in certain ritual observances (Lev. xiv. 4 ff. ; Num. xix. 6 ff. ; 
 see also the references to it in Ps. li. 7; Heb. x. 19 ff.). 
 
 Let be ; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take him 
 down. According to Matthew it is those standing by, 1 the rest,' 
 who said this. According to Mark it is the man who ran with 
 the sponge, and on his lips the ' let be,' which expressed mockery 
 as uttered by the others, might mean, ' let me have my way with 
 this.' John says ' they put a sponge,' as if the act was not that of 
 one but of several. The divergences in the accounts may reflect 
 the confusion and excitement caused by the cry in the darkness. 
 It is possible that while one spoke and acted in compassion, the 
 others spoke and acted to the end in derision. 
 
 37. tittered a loud voice. All the Synoptists notice the loud 
 cry uttered by Jesus when dying. The voice in view here is no 
 doubt the cry, ' Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,' as 
 preserved by Luke (xxiii. 46). 
 
 gave up the ghost. i Yielded up his spirit' (Matt.), i bowed 
 his head, and gave up his spirit ' (John) ; terms pointing, along 
 with 'the loud voice,' to a death which was a voluntary laying 
 down of life. 
 
 38. the veil of the temple. The temple had two veils or 
 curtains, one before the Holy Place, and another before the Holy 
 of Holies. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, speaking 
 of the tabernacle, mentions 'the second veil' (ix. 3). The curtain 
 intended here is no doubt the one before the Holy of Holies, which 
 was made ' of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen ' 
 and adorned with figures of cherubim (Exod. xxvi. 31 ; Lev. xxi. 
 23). The rending of the veil is reported by all three Synoptists. 
 For the figurative application of the 'veil ' see Heb. vi. 19 ; for the 
 mystical sense of the rent veil see Heb. ix. 20. Matthew records 
 the quaking of the earth, the rending of the tombs, and the rising 
 of many saints (xxvii. 51, 52). 
 
 39. the centurion. Tradition gives him the name Longinus. 
 He was the officer in charge of the quaternion of soldiers. 
 
ST. MARK 15. 40 357 
 
 stood by over against him, saw that he so gave up the 
 ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. 
 And there were also women beholding from afar : among 40 
 whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother 
 
 Probably he came from Caesarea, where also the devout ' centurion 
 of the band called the Italian band ' was posted (Acts x. 1). 
 
 that he so gave up the ghost. The A. V. reads that ' he so 
 cried out, and gave up the ghost ' ; but on inadequate documentary 
 evidence. The way in which Jesus died was something entirely 
 foreign to all the experience this soldier had had of similar deaths. 
 It made so great an impression upon him that he confessed this 
 sufferer to be no ordinary Jew, but 'a righteous man' (Luke), 
 • the Son of God ' or ' a Son of God ' (Matthew and Mark). This 
 confession may not mean the distinct acknowledgement of Jesus 
 as the Messiah ; but it expresses the centurion's sense of something 
 out of the ordinary course, something supernatural in the sufferer 
 whose death he had witnessed. The title ' Son of God ' may have 
 been taken by the soldier from the report of the accusation laid 
 against Jesus i^Matt. xxvii. 40). Matthew notices that ' they that 
 were with him watching Jesus' joined in the confession that this 
 was ' the Son of God,' and adds that this acknowledgement was 
 made under the influence of the fear excited by the ' earthquake 
 and the things that were done' (xxvii. 54). 
 
 40. also women. According to Matthew, 'many women.' 
 These were the faithful women from Galilee. Apart from the 
 jeering mob, at some distance from the cross, they gazed upon 
 the Sufferer and the scene with deeper feelings by far even than 
 the centurion. Three are mentioned by name in the first two 
 Gospels. 
 
 Mary Magdalene : so called doubtless from the place to 
 which she belonged, probably the Magdala, now el-Mejdel, on the 
 western side of the Sea of Galilee and at the southern end of the 
 district of Gennesaret. She had been delivered from seven demons, 
 and had become a follower of the Healer, ministering to him of her 
 substance (Luke viii. 2, 3; cf. Mark xvi. 9). She is introduced 
 here for the first time by Mark. 
 
 Mary the mother of James the less (or, the little) and of 
 Joses. Matthew and Mark both speak of this Mar} r as the 
 mother of James and Joses. John speaks of her as 'the wife of 
 Clopas' (xix. 25"). Many take Clopas to be the same as Alphaus, 
 and so make this Mary the mother of the Apostle James, the 
 second James in the lists of the Twelve. But the identification 
 of Clopas with Alphaeus is doubtful. In ancient Church history 
 mention is made of a Clopas, who was the brother of Joseph, the 
 
358 ST. MARK 15. 41,42 
 
 41 of James the less and of Joses, and Salome ; who, when 
 he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto 
 him ; and many other women which came up with him 
 unto Jerusalem. 
 
 42 And when even was now come, because it was the 
 
 Virgin Mary's spouse, and father of the Symeon who was president 
 of the mother church of Jerusalem after the death of James the 
 Just (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. iii. it, 22, 32, iv. 22). The term 
 applied to the James noticed here, 'the less' or 'the little,' is 
 taken by some to mean ' the younger.' But usually it expresses 
 the idea of stature, not of age. It is used e. g. to express the fact 
 that Zacchaeus was ' little of stature ' (Luke xix. 3^ 
 
 and Salome. The name Salome was borne by several mem- 
 bers of the Herodian house. In this connexion it is given only by 
 Mark, and by him it is left unexplained, probably as being a name 
 well known in the circle of the friends of Jesus and not shared b}' 
 any other woman in that circle. Matthew describes the person 
 here in view, not by her name, but as ' the mother of the sons of 
 Zebedee ' (^xxvii. 56). In the Fourth Gospel the women standing 
 by the cross of Jesus are described as ' his mother, and his mother's 
 sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene 1 fjohn xix. 
 25). This leaves it uncertain whether ' his mother's sister ' and 
 ' Mary the wife of Clopas ' are two distinct persons or one and the 
 same individual. On the whole the probability is that the Ma^ 
 ' of James the less ' and the Mary ' of Clopas ' are to be understood 
 as the same person, and that the woman so designated was the 
 Virgin Mary's sister. 
 
 41. many other women. Looking on the cross were not only 
 these faithful Galilean women who had been constant in their loving 
 attendance upon Jesus, and are mentioned here by name, but also 
 a band of others of less note who had followed him on his last 
 journey to Jerusalem. Of the former band Luke in his earlier 
 narrative mentions other two by name — 'Joanna the wife of 
 Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna' (viii. 2 ; cf. xxiv. 10). 
 With this group of women Luke mentions also ' all his acquain- 
 tance ' (xxiii. 49). 
 
 xv. 42-47. The Burial of J est is : cf. Matt, xxvii. 57-61 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 50-55 ; John xix. 38 42. 
 
 42. even was now come: that is, the first or early evening, 
 the time immediately before the end of the Jewish day ; cf. Deut. 
 xxi. 22 ff. 
 
 because it was the Preparation : that is, the preparation 
 for the sabbath. It was the eve of the sabbath. The word 
 ' Preparation ' had become a technical term, used of Friday. 
 
ST. MARK 15. 43 359 
 
 Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, there 4?» 
 came Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor of honourable 
 estate, who also himself was looking for the kingdom of 
 God ; and he boldly went in unto Pilate, and asked for 
 
 that is, the day before the sabbath. Matthew, writing for 
 Jews, gives the term 'the Preparation' without note or comment. 
 Mark, having non-Jewish readers in view, gives the meaning of 
 the technical term. The mention of the Preparation is introduced 
 in explanation of the action of Joseph. The Fourth Gospel states 
 that the Jews had already taken action with a view to having the 
 body removed before the sabbath entered (John xix. 31). 
 
 43. there came Joseph of Ariniathsea. Ancient Christian 
 writers identified this Arimathaea with the Ramathaim-Zophim in 
 the hill-eountry of Ephraim to which Elkanah belonged (1 Sam. 
 i. 1) ; which again is identified by some with cr-Raiu, a place somo 
 miles to the north of Jerusalem, though Eusebius, the Church 
 historian, placed it near Lydda. Others identify it with Rama in 
 Benjamin (Matt. ii. 18). 
 
 a councillor of honourable estate. A member of the San- 
 hedrin, that is to sa}', and one of high position in the body, or, as 
 the word may also mean, a dignified councillor, a man of noble 
 bearing ; Matthew speaks of him as ' a rich man ' i xxvii. 57). The 
 Gospels tell us further that he was a disciple of Jesus (Matt, 
 xxvii. 57}, a secret disciple (John xix. 38", and that he was 'a 
 good man and a righteous' who had not consented to the 'counsel 
 and deed 'of the Jewish court in condemning Jesus Lukexxiii. 50 \ 
 
 looking- for the kingdom of God: so also in Luke. He 
 belonged to the class of devout, believing, expectant Jews repre- 
 sented also b3 T Simeon (Luke ii. 25^, of whom there were not a 
 few in Jerusalem itself (Luke ii. 38). 
 
 boldly went in unto Pilate : the impression produced by the 
 death of Jesus made the secret disciple, who feared the Jews, 
 courageous enough to face Pilate and ask a favour of him. It 
 made him rise superior also to the risks of ceremonial separation. 
 To take part in a burial meant defilement for seven days, and in- 
 ability to take part in the Passover feast (Num. xix. ir; Hag. 
 ii. 13; see Geikie. ut sup. ii. 576). 
 
 asked for the body of Jesus. It was the Roman custom to 
 leave the bodies of the executed hanging for a length of time ex- 
 posed to sun and rain and the attacks of beasts and birds of prey. 
 In the more merciful Jewish law it was expressly ordered that 
 the body of one hung upon the tree should not be left exposed all 
 night, but should be taken down and buried on the day of suspen- 
 sion (Dent. xxi. 23). 
 
360 ST. MARK 15. 44 - 4 6 
 
 44 the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were 
 already dead : and calling unto him the centurion, he 
 
 45 asked him whether he had been any while dead. And 
 when he learned it of the centurion, he granted the 
 
 4 6 corpse to Joseph. And he bought a linen cloth, and 
 taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and 
 laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of a rock ; 
 and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 
 
 44. Pilate marvelled if lie were already dead. Usually the 
 crucified died a lingering death, their sufferings lasting from a day 
 and a half to three days. From John we learn that the legs of 
 the robbers crucified with Jesus were broken at the request of the 
 Jews, in order to hasten death before the sabbath began, but that 
 Jesus was found to be dead already (xix. 31-33). The Procurator 
 was so surprised at the intimation of the speedy demise that he 
 felt it necessary to make sure of the fact by inquiring of the cen- 
 turion in charge. 
 
 45. granted the corpse to Joseph: the word rendering 
 ' granted ' conveys the idea of liberality in giving. It is used only 
 once again in the N.T., in 2 Pet. i. 3. In this case at least Pilate 
 asked neither bribe nor price, but gave freely, impressed, it may be, 
 by the petitioner's character and standing, or having some know- 
 ledge of him. 
 
 46. wound him in the linen cloth. Taking the sacred body 
 down from the cross, in which task he would probably have assist- 
 ance, he wound it carefully in a piece of fine linen, ' a clean linen 
 cloth/ says Matthew (xxvii. 59), that is, linen yet fresh and un- 
 used. John adds that Nicodemus, Joseph's fellow councillor, also 
 came, bringing with him ' a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a 
 hundred pound weight' (xix. 39). Nicodemus, therefore, probably 
 assisted Joseph in the removal of the body from the cross, and 
 the two councillors placed the spices in the folds of the linen 
 cloth, and binding it with strips of cloth made it ready according 
 to the Jewish custom for burial (John xix. 40). 
 
 laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of a rock. 
 Sepulchral chambers of this kind are found in numbers on the 
 south, west, and north-west of Jerusalem. This tomb had been 
 constructed by Joseph for his own burial (Matt, xxvii. 60) ; it 
 was new and had never been used (Matt, xxvii. 60 ; Luke xxiii. 
 53 ; John xix. 41) ; and it was situated in a garden near where 
 Jesus had been crucified (John xix. 41). 
 
 he rolled a stone : it was usual to close the tomb in this 
 way ; cf. John xi. 38. Matthew tells us that the stone was sealed 
 
ST. MARK 15. 47—16. 2 361 
 
 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the ?nother of Joses 47 
 beheld where he was laid. 
 
 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, 16 
 and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought 
 spices, that they might come and anoint him. And 2 
 very early on the first day of the week, they come to 
 
 at the request of the Jews and had a guard set over it (xxvii. 
 64-66). 
 
 47. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses. 
 Luke speaks generally of ' the women, which had come with him 
 out of Galilee ' as following (xxiii. 55). They sat ' over against 
 the sepulchre,' as Matthew notices (xxvii. 61). Thus they were 
 in a position to see what took place. They 'beheld the tomb,' 
 observing 'where he was laid' (Mark), and 'how his body was 
 laid ' (^Luke). Knowing where they could find the sacred body 
 when the sabbath was past, they went their way, but only to 
 return with the spices and ointments needed for the performance 
 of the last sad rites ^Luke xxiii. 56). 
 
 xvi. 1-8. The Women and the Empty Tomb : cf. Matt, xxviii. 
 1-8 ; Luke xxiv. 1-10 ; also John xx. 1-18. 
 
 1. And when the sabbath was past. That is, after sunset on 
 the Saturday. According to Jewish reckoning it was now the 
 third day after the crucifixion, Friday night, Saturday, and Satur- 
 day night making three days. 
 
 bought spices. Luke writes as if the holy women had 
 prepared the spices and ointments before the sabbath (xxiii. 56). 
 The women are those previously mentioned as looking on the 
 cross ' from afar ' ; of whom two are also said to have ' beheld ' 
 where Jesus ' was laid.' They had probably observed what was 
 done by Joseph and Nicodemus in preparing the sacred body for 
 burial They may have seen also that that had been hastily done 
 as the sabbath was so near (Luke xxiii. 54). They procure what 
 was necessary to complete the work — the aromatic herbs and the 
 ointments with which to embalm the sacred body. Compare the 
 account of the burying of King Asa \z Chron. xvi. 14). 
 
 2. very early on the first day of the week. The four Evangel- 
 ists agree in the care with which they note the time. Their terms 
 are remarkably independent ; but, while they differ, they all indi- 
 cate substantially the same part of the day. Matthew gives, 'as 
 it began to dawn toward the first day of the week' ; Mark, * very 
 early on the first day of the week . . . when the sun was risen ' ; 
 Luke, • on the first day of the week, at early dawn ' ; John, ' on 
 the first da}' of the week . . . while it was yet dark.' These 
 
362 ST. MARK 16. 3-5 
 
 3 the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying 
 among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from 
 
 4 the door of the tomb ? and looking up, they see that the 
 
 5 stone is rolled back : for it was exceeding great. And 
 
 various terms mean that the Saturday night was just dying out, 
 and the first streaks of dawn were rising on the darkness. 
 
 when the sun was risen. This statement is thought to 
 be inconsistent with John's words l while it was yet dark. 1 But 
 Mark himself gives also the note of time ' very early on the first 
 day of the week.' His own two statements, made in one and the 
 same sentence, would thus have to be regarded as discordant, if 
 the terms in either Gospel are pressed too far. The word i early ' 
 is used of the fourth watch, that is, from 3 to 6 a.m. ; the phrase 
 ' very early ' might point, therefore, to the beginning of that space 
 of time. Mark's first note of time consequently is taken by some 
 to be of a general kind. Others take it to express the time when 
 the women set out, while the second note, ' when the sun was 
 risen,' gives the time when they came to the sepulchre. It is most 
 probable that : Mark speaks of the sunrise, not as its appearing 
 above the horizon, but as bringing in the day, the illumination herald- 
 ing its coming.' So it is understood, e. g., by Andrews, who also 
 notices that at the season of year in question ' the sun rose about 
 half-past five, and it began to be light enough to discern objects at 
 least half an hour earlier' (The Life of oar Lord, pp. 598, 599). 
 
 3. Who shall roll us away the stone ? They appear not to 
 have known of the visit of the Jewish authorities to Pilate and 
 the sealing of the stone and the setting of the watch (Matt, xxvii. 
 62-66). But they knew the way in which it was customary to 
 secure rock-hewn sepulchres, and they probably had seen the stone 
 put in its place by Joseph. To remove it was far beyond their 
 strength, and they talked of this difficulty one to another on the 
 way. 
 
 4. looking" up. A graphic touch, true to the life. They were 
 now approaching the rock or mound out of whicn the tomb had 
 been cut, and with such perplexities in their minds they would 
 naturally look up to see how matters stood. 
 
 rolled back. The word means probably that it was ' not 
 rolled right away, but rolled back so as to leave the opening free * 
 (Swete). 
 
 for it was exceeding* great. This is added in order to 
 explain how they were able to see the stone at some distance, 
 even though it was not quite light yet, and to discern that it was 
 not in the expected position. Mark says nothing of the earthquake 
 or of the rolling away of the stone by • an angel of the Lord,' 
 which Matthew records (xxviii. 2). 
 
ST. MARK 1(3. 6 363 
 
 entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting 
 on the right side, arrayed in a white robe ; and they 
 were amazed. And he saith unto them, Be not amazed : 6 
 ye seek Jesus, the Nazarene, which hath been crucified : 
 he is risen ; he is not here : behold, the place where 
 
 5. entering- into the tonib. This is not noticed by Matthew. 
 John reports Mary Magdalene as at the sepulchre alone, and gives 
 another train of circumstances (xx. i-io\ Luke agrees with 
 Mark in stating that the women entered the tomb, and adds that 
 4 they found not the body of the Lord Jesus ' (xxiv. 3). 
 
 they saw a young man sitting on the right side. The 
 ' young man ' is described as ' an angel ' by Matthew. Luke, 
 again, represents the women as 'affrighted ' b} T the sight of 'two 
 men ' who stood by them. The angel that appeared to Manoah's 
 wife is described by Josephus as like 'a young man, noble and 
 great.' See also the analogous case in 2 Mace. iii. 26, 33. 
 
 in a white robe. A long robe or stole. So Matthew says of 
 the angel that ' his appearance was as lightning, and his raiment 
 white as snow' (xxviii. 3); and Luke describes the two men 
 as 'in dazzling apparel' (xxiv. 4). 
 
 amazed. The strong word which was used also in ix. 15, xiv. 
 33. Fear was the impression naturally made by the sight. 
 Matthew speaks of the watchers as quaking and becoming ' as 
 dead men ' ; Luke describes the women as ' affrighted ' and 
 bowing down ' their faces to the earth. 1 
 
 6. he is risen ; he is not here. So, too, in effect Matthew. 
 Luke reports that the angel addressed to the women the question, 
 ' Why seek ye the living among the dead ? ' and reminded them 
 of the Lord's words in Galilee about his death and resurrection 
 
 xxiv. 6, 7). The Resurrection is stated as a fact accomplished. 
 It had taken place when there was no eye to see it. 
 
 behold, the place where they laid him I So in Matthew, 
 ' Come, see the place where the Lord lay.' He would have them 
 satisfy themselves as to the fact by looking at the place themselves. 
 Though there had been no human witness of the Lord's rising 
 from the dead, there were evidences all around. The place was 
 empty ; the body was gone ; Peter and John found it so. some- 
 what later (John xx. 3-10) ; and there was no disorder, no sign 
 of violent, disturbing removal. The Third Gospel tells us how, 
 when Peter stooped and looked into the tomb, he saw ' the linen 
 cloths by themselves ' xxiv. 12). The Fourth Gospel states in like 
 manner that Peter saw ' the linen cloths lying' when he looked in. 
 and that, when he ventured within the tomb, lie beheld not only 
 ' the linen cloths lying,' but ' the napkin, that was upon his head. 
 
364 ST. MARK 16. 7,8 
 
 7 they laid him ! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He 
 goeth before you into Galilee : there shall ye see him, 
 
 8 as he said unto you. And they went out, and fled from 
 the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come 
 upon them : and they said nothing to any one ; for they 
 were afraid. 
 
 not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself 
 (xx. 6, 7) — a remarkable statement, from which an ingenious argu- 
 ment has been drawn in support of the reality of the Resurrection. 
 
 7. But go, tell his disciples. They had a duty to discharge — 
 one that demanded immediate attention, as Matthew's 'go quickly' 
 indicates (xxviii. 7), and made it impossible for them to linger in 
 the wonder and rapture of the occasion. They had a message to 
 carry, all important to the disciples in their darkness, and especially 
 to one of their number. 
 
 and Peter. The special grace meant for Peter, and of such 
 significance to the man broken by the double shock of his own 
 denials and penitence, and the death of his Lord, is mentioned 
 only by Mark. The strong, restored, thankful apostle could never 
 forget that grace, and may have spoken of it often to his inter- 
 preter, Mark. 
 
 He goeth before you into Galilee. The disciples, if they 
 had understood the Master's former words (Matt. xxvi. 32 ; Mark 
 xiv. 28), would not have tarried in Jerusalem, but would have gone 
 forward to Galilee, strong in the hope of meeting him again. But 
 in the agitation of these latter days they had forgotten his words, 
 and the message sent by the women was intended not only to 
 give them testimony of the Resurrection, but in particular to 
 remind them of what he had said, and to set them on their way 
 to the appointed place of meeting, where he was to precede them. 
 For the force of the word ' goeth before you ' see on x. 32. 
 
 8. went out, and fled from the tomb. This was the first 
 effect of the intimation, and it is true to nature. 
 
 trembling- and astonishment had come upon them. 
 'Trembling' — a word used in the Gospels only this once, but 
 four times by Paul (1 Cor. ii. 3 ; 2 Cor. vii. 15 ; Eph. vi. 5 ; 
 Phil. ii. 12). 'Astonishment,' lit. 'ecstasy,' the word used in 
 v. 42, as also in Luke v. 26 ; Acts iii. 10. It means a trance 
 (Acts x. 10, xxii. 17), but also amazement or awe, a condition 
 in which one loses control of himself. We see from Matthew 
 that this first impression of terror and mental confusion gave 
 place by-and-by to other feelings, so that the women's fear was 
 tempered by joy, and they ran ' to bring his disciples word ' 
 (xxviii. 8). 
 
ST. MARK 16. 9, 10 365 
 
 Now when he was risen early on the first day of the 9 
 week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom 
 he had cast out seven devils. She went and told them 10 
 that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 At verse 9 the regular course of the narrative appears to be 
 broken, and a paragraph is introduced which gives a description 
 of Mary that seems hardly in place in the case of one who has 
 been named only a few verses before. It is very generally held, 
 therefore, that the whole section from the ninth verse to the end 
 did not belong to the original form of Mark's Gospel, but was 
 appended to it, whether taken from some other primitive document 
 or written by the Evangelist himself or one of his company. To 
 this conclusion we are led by a variety of considerations — the 
 state of the historical testimony in ancient manuscripts, versions, 
 and Patristic writings ; the number of words and phrases in 
 which the vocabulary and style of this part differ from those of 
 the body of the Gospel ; and the nature of the contents. It is, 
 however, a narrative of most ancient date and great historical 
 weight, added to the Gospel very soon after the original draft was 
 composed. See more at length above in the Introduction. 
 
 xvi. 9- 1 1. Appearance of the Risen Lord to Mary: cf. John 
 xx. 1 1- 18. 
 
 9. he appeared. The word by which the appearance of the 
 Risen Christ is expressed here is one which is also used of 
 the appearance of God to Balaam <Num. xxiii. 4), and of the 
 appearance of Elijah (Luke ix. 8). In Luke (xxiv. 34) and in Paul 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 5, &c.) the word used is one meaning 'was seen.' 
 first to Mary Magrdalene. Mark alone mentions distinctly 
 lhat the first person to whom Jesus shewed himself was Mary. 
 But it is implied in John's narrative (xx. 1, &c). On discovering 
 that the sepulchre was empty she ran with the tidings to Peter, 
 and after that she seems to have returned to the tomb and to have 
 had the manifestation of her Risen Lord which is told briefly here, 
 and with rich and touching circumstantiality by John. 
 
 from whom he had cast out seven devils (or, \ demons '). 
 This deliverance is noticed also by Luke at an earlier stage in his 
 narrative (viii. 2). Her love was supreme, and it had this supreme 
 reward. 
 
 10. told them that had been with him. This phrase, those 
 'with him,' has sometimes a more technical sense and sometimes 
 a wider application. It is used of the Apostles in particular (e. g. 
 
366 ST. MARK 16. ir, is 
 
 1 1 And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had 
 been seen of her, disbelieved. 
 
 12 And after these things he was manifested in another 
 
 Mark iii. 14 ; John xvii. 12 ; Acts iv. 13) ; but also of the disciples 
 or followers of Jesus generally. Mary found them still lost in 
 sorrow and without hope. 
 
 11. they heard that he was alive. Mary was able to report 
 ■ plainly not only that Jesus lived, but that he had been seen by 
 
 herself. She was certain it was no vision or apparition that she 
 had looked upon, but the Lord himself, whom she had hailed as 
 Rabboni, and from whom she had received a message for the 
 brethren (John xx. 16, 17). The word for ' seen ' here occurs 
 nowhere in the body of Mark's Gospel, though it is found twice 
 (here and in verse 14) in this Appendix. It is an expressive word 
 used repeatedly in a profound, solemn sense by John (e. g. John 
 i. 14, 32; 1 John i. 1, iv. 12, 14). 
 
 they . . . disbelieved. So Luke reports that the things told the 
 Apostles by the women 'appeared in their sight as idle talk; and 
 they disbelieved them' (xxiv. 11). A distinction is drawn between 
 'disbelief and the positive 'unbelief into which it may pass (cf. 
 Heb. iii. 12, 18, &c, iv. 11). Sunk in their sorrow as they were, 
 the disciples could not take in the fact to which Mary bore such 
 strong and convinced testimony. It seemed incredible to them, 
 a thing too good to be true. 
 
 xvi. 12, 13. Appearance of the Risen Lord to two of the disciples : 
 cf. Luke xxiv. 13-32. 
 
 12. after these thing's he was manifested. This appearance 
 took place, says Mark, ' after these things. 1 But how long after he 
 does not explain. The incident appears to be the same, however, 
 as that which Luke records at length in his last chapter, and from 
 him we learn that it took place on 'that very day,' that is, on the 
 same day as the former manifestation. The word used here for 
 ' manifested ' is used of the appearances of the Risen Lord once 
 again by Mark (verse 14), thrice by John (xxi. 1, 14 s ). It is also 
 used of the manifestation of Christ at the Second Advent (Col. 
 iii. 4 s ), and of the manifestation of men at the Last Judgement 
 (2 Cor. v. 10). 
 
 in another form. There had been a change in the Lord's 
 appearance. To Mary he seemed like a gardener (John xx. 15") ; 
 to these disciples he looked like a wayfarer. He was altered so 
 that he was not recognized at first (Luke xxiv. 16) ; this was the 
 manner of his appearances in his Risen condition. He was the 
 same and yet not the same ; speaking, having the voice that was 
 familiar to the disciples, eating with them, talking with them, and 
 
ST. MARK 16. 13, 14 367 
 
 form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way 
 into the country. And they went away and told it unto 13 
 the rest : neither believed they them. 
 
 And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven 14 
 
 yet going and coming in ways they knew not, moving and acting 
 according to laws strange to our experience, appearing only from 
 time to time Acts i. 3), and shewing himself not to all, but only 
 to chosen witnesses. ' So far as we know none could see him 
 in this new condition of being but those to whom he was 
 pleased to manifest himself (Andrews, The Life of our Lord, 
 p. 590 . 
 
 unto two of them. From Luke (xxiv. 18) we learn that the 
 name of one of them was Cleopas. 
 
 as they walked, on their way into the country. They were 
 going to 'a village named Emmaus,' as Luke tells us (xxiv. 13), 
 'which was threescore furlongs,' or about seven English miles, 
 from Jerusalem. In ancient times this village was identified with 
 an Emmaus, afterwards called Nicopolis (1 Mace. hi. 40), and 
 known now as Animas. But that place was away near the plain 
 of Philistia, some twenty-two miles or so from Jerusalem. More 
 recently it has been identified with el-Kubeibeh, a small village 
 about nine miles north-west of Jerusalem, or with Kulonieh on 
 the west of the city, or with el-Khamasa on the south-west. The 
 site remains uncertain. m .. 
 
 13. told it unto the rest. They recognized their Lord in the 
 breaking of the bread, and when he vanished out of their sight 
 they hastened to their brethren in Jerusalem with the tidings 
 
 (Luke xxiv. 3°-35 N - . , T . , 
 
 neither believed they them. It appears from Lukes 
 narrative that the Lord had already shewn himself to Peter, and 
 that the Apostles were able to report the fact to the two when 
 they came with their glad news. Yet the two were as little 
 believed as was Mary. The slowness of the disciples to credit 
 the report may have been due to their inability to understand this 
 strange, new kind of life and action implied in the Lord's shewing 
 himself now here and now there, now in one form and then 
 in another. 
 
 xvi. 14-18. Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven : cf. 
 Matt, xxviii. 16-20 ; Luke xxiv. 30-43 ; John xx. 19-25 ; also 
 i Cor. xv. 5, &c. 
 
 14. afterward he was manifested unto the eleven them- 
 selves. Only at this stage, after he had shewn himself to Mary, 
 to Peter, and to two disciples, docs he manifest himself specially 
 to the Apostolate as a body. 
 
368 ST. MARK 16. 15,16 
 
 themselves as they sat at meat ; and he upbraided them 
 with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they 
 believed not them which had seen him after he was 
 
 15 risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, 
 
 16 and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that 
 
 as they sat at meat. This agrees with the more detailed 
 narrative of Luke, which states that Jesus took a piece of broiled 
 fish and ate it with the Eleven ; cf. also John xxi. 9. 
 
 upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart. 
 Their despondency had sunk into a settled indisposition to believe 
 out of which they had to be roused. Here for the first time 
 definite unbelief is charged against the Apostles themselves. 
 Before this they had been rebuked for the smallness, the im- 
 maturity, the backwardness and unreadiness of their faith (Matt. 
 vi. 30, viii. 26, xiv. 31, xvi. 8 ; Mark iv. 40, xi. 22 ; Luke xxii. 32). 
 Formerly it had been said of them that they had their * hearts 
 hardened 1 (Mark viii. 17). Here they are upbraided with a 
 hardness of heart of a pronounced kind, expressed by a different 
 term, and pointing to a condition of mind in which love and the 
 tenderness of penitent feeling die out. Luke tells us that the 
 Eleven were ' terrified and affrighted ' by this manifestation, and 
 that the Lord sought to convince them that he was no spirit 
 by pointing to his hands and feet and partaking of food before 
 them (xxiv. 37-41). 
 
 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to the whole creation. The rebuke passes 
 into a commission. During our Lord's earthly ministry the 
 commission of the Twelve had been limited to the lost sheep 
 of the house of Israel, Gentiles and Samaritans being both ex- 
 cluded (Matt. x. 5, 6). Indications of the world-wide extension 
 which the Gospel was to have in the future, however, had also 
 been given (Matt. xxvi. 13; Mark xiv. 9). The commission to 
 the Apostles obtains now its corresponding enlargement. John 
 records the Lord's breathing on the Eleven, bidding them receive 
 the Holy Ghost, and giving them powers of order and discipline in 
 his Church (xx. 22, 23). 
 
 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 
 Baptism is thus coupled with belief, acceptance of the outward 
 rite with the profession of faith. Everywhere in the N. T., in 
 Gospels and in Epistles, belief or faith is connected with salvation 
 and made its condition. Baptism has a place in that connexion, 
 but only a secondary place ; cf. on the one hand, 1 Pet. iii. 21 ; 
 Titus iii. 5, and on the other, John iv. 1, 2 ; 1 Cor. i. 14-17, &c. 
 
ST. MARK 1G. if, 18 369 
 
 disbelieveth shall he condemned. And these signs shall 17 
 follow them that believe : in my name shall they cast 
 out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they 18 
 shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly 
 thing, it shall in no wise hurt them ; they shall lay hands 
 on the sick, and they shall recover. 
 
 17. these signs shall follow them that believe. The 
 promise has the widest extension — to all believers, not only to 
 teachers or to the Eleven. The powers referred to were to 
 be ' signs,' confirming their word and work, assuring themselves 
 also in their faith. See 1 Cor. xii. 28-30, xiv. 22. 
 
 in my name shall they cast out devils (or, 'demons'). 
 This power has already been bestowed on the Apostles (vi. 13) 
 and the Seventy (Luke x. 17). Others, also, who were not 
 declared disciples of Jesus, had been seen casting out demons in 
 his name (Mark ix. 38). The Book of Acts records the exercise 
 of this power by Philip in Samaria (viii. 7) and Paul at Philippi 
 and Ephesus (xvi. 18, xix. 11, 16). 
 
 they shall speak with new tongues. As is noticed in the 
 margin of the R.V. the word 'new,' which is of considerable 
 importance in the interpretation of the gift in question, is of some- 
 what uncertain authority. This speaking with tongues, with which 
 some difficult questions are connected, is first heard of as in 
 actual exercise in the report of the events of the great day of 
 Pentecost (Acts ii. 4-1 1), and again in the cases of the men sent 
 by Cornelius to Peter (Acts x. 46), and the disciples at Ephesus 
 (Acts xix. 6). It is dealt with more particularly by Paul in 
 1 Corinthians (xii. 28, xiv.). It is mentioned also in ancient 
 Christian literature as prevailing towards the end of the second 
 century (Euseb., Eccles. Hist. v. 7). 
 
 18. shall take up serpents. Compare the case of Paul at the 
 island called Melita (Acts xxviii. 5 . Jesus had previously given 
 the Seventy ' authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions ' 
 (Luke x. 19% 
 
 if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt 
 them. Nothing of this kind is recorded in the N.T. Eusebius, 
 the ancient Church historian, reports instances of this immunity 
 in the case of St. John and Barsabas surnamed Justus. 
 
 they shall lay hands on the sick. The Apostles received 
 the power of healing the sick from Jesus during his ministry (e. g. 
 vi. 13). The 'gifts of healing' are referred to both b}' James 
 (v. 14, 15) and by Paul '\ Cor. xii. 9. 28). In the Book of Acts, 
 too, we see Peter healing the lame man at the temple gate (iii. 7), 
 and Paul restoring Publius (xxviii. 8). 
 
 Bb 
 
37© ST. MARK 16. 19 
 
 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto 
 them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the 
 
 The Appearances of the Risen Lord. These had at least two great 
 purposes, namely, to assure the disciples of the reality of the 
 Resurrection and the personal identity of their Lord, and to fur- 
 nish opportunities for preparing them for their future ministry 
 by instructing them in the things of the kingdom. None of the 
 Evangelists gives more than a selection of these manifestations, 
 and it is not eas}^ to determine, therefore, either their number or 
 their order. They are usually said to be nine ; or, with the 
 addition of that to James (i Cor. xv. 7), ten. Various arrangements 
 of them have been proposed. One of the best gives this order — 
 (i) To Mary Magdalene ; (2) to the other women ; (3) to the two 
 disciples at Emmaus ; (4) to Peter ; (5) to the Eleven ; (6) to the 
 Eleven again ; (7) at the Sea of Galilee (John xxi. 1) ; (8) to the 
 five hundred ; (9) to James ; (10) on the mount of Olives. Com- 
 paring the several accounts, embracing those in Acts and t Cor. 
 xv, we conclude that five of the appearances took place on the 
 da3 r of the Resurrection, one on the Sunday following, two at 
 a later period, one at a time unknown (James), and one when 
 he ascended. Thus Jerusalem was the scene of five or six (the 
 latter if we assign that to James to the chVy), Emmaus of one, 
 Galilee of two, and the mount of Olives of one. 
 
 xvi. 19, 20. The Ascension : cf. Luke xxiv. 53 ; Acts i. 3-12 ; 
 see also Rom. viii. 34 ; Heb. viii. 1 ; 1 Pet. iii. 22. 
 
 19. So then the Lord Jesus. This designation ' the Lord Jesus ' 
 occurs frequently in Acts, and is used at times by Paul (1 Cor. 
 xi. 23). This is the only distinct occurrence of it in the Gospels, 
 with the possible exception of the case in Luke xxiv. 3. (See 
 R. V. margin.) 
 
 after he had spoken unto them. The note of time is 
 indefinite. It does not necessarily mean, however, immediately 
 after he had spoken the words recorded in the preceding verses. 
 It means generally after Jesus had discoursed to his disciples. 
 Some think that, looking to the character and trend of this 
 Appendix, we may take it to mean ' after the series of interviews 
 with the Eleven, of which a specimen has been given.' (So Swete.) 
 was received up into heaven. This is the only occurrence 
 in the Gospels of the word here rendered ' received up.' It is 
 used again of the Ascension in Acts i. 2, ir, 22; 1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 In the passages in Acts it is rendered ' taken up ' in the A. V. 
 In the fuller accounts given in the Third Gospel we are told how 
 Jesus led the disciples out 'until they were over against Bethany 1 ; 
 how he lifted up his hands to bless them ; and how, while he was 
 in the act of blessing them, he 'parted from them and was carried 
 
ST. MARK 16. 20 371 
 
 right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached 20 
 everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming 
 the word by the signs that followed. Amen. 
 
 up into heaven' Luke xxiv. 50, 51). The narrative of the Book 
 of Acts shews us further how the Apostles interrogated their Lord 
 about the time when he should restore the kingdom, and how, 
 when he had answered their question and had given them his 
 final commission, ' as they were looking, he was taken up ; and 
 a cloud received him out of their sight ' (i. 6-8). 
 
 and sat down at the right hand of God. This is peculiar to 
 Mark. Christ's session at the right hand of God, in the place of 
 honour and authority and power, is a frequent subject of N.T. 
 teaching, and not b}' one writer only, but by most (Acts vii. 55 ; 
 Rom. viii. 34 ; Eph. i. 20 ; Col. iii. 1 ; Heb. i. 3. viii. 1, ix. 12, 
 xii. 2 ; 1 Pet. iii. 22 ; Rev. iii. 21). 
 
 20. they went forth. Not at once, however, as the words, il 
 they stood alone, might mean. From the Book of Acts we learn 
 that they were instructed to tarry in Jerusalem until they should 
 receive 'the promise of the Father,' that is to say, the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost, and that they did wait as they had been told (Acts i. 
 4, 12, &c). 
 
 preached everywhere. Faithful to their commission and in 
 accordance with the universal extension which the Lord had 
 stated to be destined for his Gospel. 
 
 the Lord working" with them. This, too, is peculiar to 
 Mark. 
 
 confirming* the word. This term < confirming' is also peculiar 
 to Mark here, and occurs nowhere else in the Gospels. It is used 
 repeatedly, however, in the Epistles Rom. xv. 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 8 ; 
 2 Cor. i. 2i ; Col. ii. 7 ; Heb. ii. 3, xiii. 9 . 
 
 toy the signs that followed. The 'signs,' therefore, were 
 the gift of the Ascended Lord, the results of the ministry which 
 he continues in heaven, tokens of his abiding work and his con- 
 tinuous interest in his followers. 
 
 The A>.cen*ioii. Jesus had spoken repeatedly of his departure, 
 and had explained to his disciples its necessity or expediency. 
 He had given them to understand that unless he went away the 
 Holy Spirit could not come to them, and he had shewn them how 
 great their loss in that case would be by disclosing to them the 
 ministries which the Holy Ghost was to discharge when sent into 
 the world (John xvi. 5-1 1\ The event of the Ascension itself, 
 however, occupies a small place in the Gospel records. Matthew 
 and John give no distinct report of it. Only Mark and Luke 
 relate the circumstances. Even in their case the narrative is 
 
 B b 2 
 
372 ST. MARK 16. 20 
 
 brief. A fuller account of it is found, however, in the Book of 
 Acts. The Gospels report the story of our Lord's ministry on 
 earth. The Book of Acts reports the story of his ministry in 
 heaven discharged through his Apostles, and it begins appro- 
 priately with the Ascension. The event is also referred to now and 
 again elsewhere in the N. T. (Eph. iv. 8, 9 ; 1 Pet. iii. 22, &c.). 
 Various questions have been raised in connexion with the event 
 and with the reports of it. It has been asked, e.g., whether it 
 is placed in the same relation to the Resurrection in the several 
 narratives of it which have come down to us in the canonical 
 writings. It has been thought by many that the appendix to 
 Mark's Gospel leaves no room for the interval of forty days which 
 is spoken of in the Book of Acts, but represents the Ascension as 
 following immediately on the Resurrection. Some have met the 
 difficulty created by this apparent discrepancy in the narratives 
 by supposing that there were several Ascensions, our Lord's exis- 
 tence during the forty days consisting in a series of goings and 
 comings. But it is not necessary to take the brief, summary state- 
 ment in the appendix to the Second Gospel to mean that the 
 Lord's return to heaven took place immediately after he rose from 
 the dead or immediately after he spoke the words to the Eleven 
 which are recorded in xvi. 14-18. There are many things in 
 the Gospel narratives to make us cautious in supposing that events 
 which are reported one after another without any break actually 
 took place in immediate historical succession. 
 
 Another question which has been largely discussed concerns 
 the scene of the Ascension. The traditional site is that of the 
 present Church of the Ascension. ' In the centre of the chapel,' 
 says Baedeker, 'which is octagonal in shape with a small dome, 
 is the spot where Christ is said to have ascended.' This is on the 
 mount of Olives, and the tradition regarding it is a very ancient 
 one — as old as the third century at least. But this site is open to 
 the serious objection that it is only about half a mile from the 
 city wall, whereas it is explicitly stated in the Book of Acts that 
 the point from which the witnesses of the Ascension returned 
 was 'a sabbath day's journey off' (i. 12). Other sites, therefore, 
 have been suggested, especially one on a height above Bethany, 
 about a hundred yards from the footpath between that village and 
 Jerusalem. The difficulty which seemed to many to be created by 
 the reading of the A. V., 'as far as to Bethany' (Luke xxiv. 50), 
 which would mean a distance of more than a sabbath day's 
 journey, is removed by the better reading of the R. V. 'over 
 against Bethany.' It is impossible to determine the scene of the 
 Ascension, however, more particularly than that it was on one of 
 the heights far up on the mount of Olives, overhanging Bethany 
 and facing to the east. 
 
INDEX 
 
 [The Numerals refer to the Pages.] 
 
 Abiathar, 146. 
 
 Abomination of desolation, 298. 
 Agony in the garden, 325, 331. 
 Alabaster cruse, 311. 
 Alexander, son of Simon, 350. 
 Andrews, S. J., 262, 341, 362, 
 
 367- 
 Annas, 334. 
 Anointing, 313. 
 Appearances of the Risen Lord, 
 
 37o. 
 Appendix to Mark's Gospel, 30, 
 
 365. 
 Arimathaea, 359. 
 Aristion, 32. 
 Ascension of Jesus, 371. 
 
 — scene of, 372. 
 Atonement, 258. 
 Augustine, 44. 
 
 Baedeker, K., 372. 
 Baptism. 198 368. 
 
 — baptized with, 255. 
 
 — John's, 115. 
 
 — method of, 112. 
 
 — of Jesus, 116, 117. 
 Barabbas, 346. 
 Baskets, 193, 208, 211. 
 Beelzebub, 153. 
 Bethany, 262. 
 Bethphagc, 262. 
 Bethsaida, 193, 194, 212. 
 Birks, T. R., 20. 
 Blasphemy, against Holy Spirit, 
 
 155- 
 
 — against Son of man. 155. 
 Blessed, Son of the, 337. 
 Blindness. 2T2. 
 Brethren of Jesus, 156. 
 
 Caesarea Philippi, 215. 
 
 Caiaphas, 334. 
 
 Calvary, 351. 
 
 Camel and needle's eye, 249. 
 
 Capernaum, 128. 
 
 Chagiga, 320. 
 
 Chamscth, 316, 319. 
 
 Chazzan. 295. 
 
 Chief places, ^88. 
 
 Chief priests, 217. 
 
 Christ, use of term, 107, 238. 
 
 Christian, 297. 
 
 Chrysostom, 22. 
 
 Clarke, Prof. W. W., 233. 
 
 Clement, 10, 21, 24, 26. 31, 41, 
 
 Clouds, 304. 
 
 Cock-crowing, 325. 
 
 Coming of Christ, 220. 
 
 Cunder, Col., 109. 
 
 Corban, 199. 
 
 Covenant, 321. 
 
 Cries from the Cross. 354, 355. 
 
 Cross, 219. 
 
 — bearing of, 351. 
 
 — cries from the, 354, 355. 
 
 — forms of, 353. 
 Cup, 255. 
 
 Dalmanutha, 209. 
 Darkness over the land, 354. 
 Dead, anointing of, 313. 
 Decapolis, 171. 
 Delitzsch, Franz, 268. 
 Demon, history of word, 133. 
 Demoniacal possession, 132. 
 Denarius, 191, 290. 
 Desolation, abomination of, 298. 
 Divorce, 243, 244. 
 
374 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Divorcement, bill of, 242. 
 Dogs, Eastern, 204. 
 
 Edersheim, Dr. J., 289, 290, 
 
 318, 352. 
 End, discourse on, 308. 
 Elect, 304. 
 
 Election, the Divine, 256, 301. 
 Emraaus, 367. 
 
 Enoch, Book of, 106, 228, 2^0. 
 Epiphanius, 20, 43. 
 Eschatological discourse, 308. 
 Esdras, IV*, 240. 
 Eternal life, 246, 251. 
 Eternal sin, 155. 
 Eusebius of Caesarea, 10, 20. 
 
 26, 42, 43? 176, i8r, 299, 369 
 
 False Christs, 294. 301. 
 
 — prophets, 294, 301. 
 Farrar, Archdeacon. 319. 
 Father, as name of God, 273. 
 Feedings of 5,000 and 4.000. 
 
 207. 
 Fig-tree, 268. 
 Fire, unquenchable, 240. 
 Flesh, the, 329. 
 
 Galilean dialect, 342. 
 Galilee, land of, 125. 
 
 — sea of, 126. 
 Gehenna, 239. 
 
 Geikie, Dr. Cunningham, 174, 
 
 265. 
 Gennesaret, lake of, 118. 
 
 — plain of, 158, 196. 
 Gerasenes, country of, 166. 
 Gethsemane, 326. 
 Golgotha, 351. 
 
 Gospel, use of word, 106. 
 Gospel of Nicodemus, 176, 339. 
 
 Hallel, 320. 
 
 Heart, 196. 
 
 Hedge, 275. 
 
 Hell, 239. 
 
 Hem of garment, 175. 
 
 Henry, Matthew, 159. 
 Hernias, 5. 
 Hermon, 223. 
 Herod Antipas, 184. 
 
 — Philip, 185. 
 Herodians, 149, 185. 
 Herodias, 185, 278. 
 Holy One of God, 131. 
 Holy Spirit, 115. 
 
 — blasphemy against, 155. 
 
 — descent of on Jesus, 118. 
 
 — in the O. T., 296, 297. 
 Horace, 312. 
 Hosanna, 266. 
 
 Idumaea. 150. 
 
 Immortality, O. T. doctrine of, 
 
 284. 
 Irenaeus, 5, 10, 21, 26, 40. 
 Iscariot, 152. 
 
 J aims, 173. 
 Jericho, 259. 
 Jerome, 20, 24, 44. 
 Jesus, Agony of, 326. 
 
 — Appearances of, 370. 
 
 — Ascension of, 371, 372. 
 
 — Baptism of, 116, 117. 
 
 — Betrayal of, 331. 
 
 — brethren of, 156. 
 
 — Burial of, 360. 
 
 — Crucifixion of, 351. 
 
 — Death of, 357. 
 
 — descent of Spirit on, 118. 
 
 — designations of, 107. 
 
 — limitations of knowledge in, 
 306. 
 
 — Resurrection of, 363. 
 
 — Session of, 371. 
 
 — sisters of. 181. 
 
 — Temptation of, 119, 120. 
 
 — Transfiguration of, 222. 225. 
 John the Baptist, 185, 188. 
 Jones, Sir William, 311. 
 Jordan, 112. 
 
 Joseph of Arimatha:a, 359. 
 Josephus, 125, 135, 185, 186, 
 
INDEX 
 
 375 
 
 19b. 215, 223. 244, 260, 281, 
 282. 290, 292, 294, 298, 299, 
 300, 308, 344, 348, 350. 
 
 Judas Iscariot, 152. 
 
 — treachery of, 315. 
 
 Justin Martyr, 5, 40, 180, 
 297. 
 
 Keim, Theodor, 351. 
 King of the Jews, 344. 
 King, the title of, 183. 
 Kingdom of God, 124. 
 
 Laidlaw, Dr. John, 219. 
 Leaven, 210. 
 Legion, 169. 
 Leprosy, 136. 
 Levi, 141. 
 Levirate Law, 282. 
 Life, eternal, 246, 251. 
 Lightfoot, Dr. John. 174, 290. 
 
 — Bishop, 327. 
 Locusts, 113. 
 
 Lord's Supper. 320, 322, 323. 
 Lynch, Narrative, 112. 
 
 Macgrcgor, J.. Rob Roy on the 
 
 Jordan, 170. 
 Macheerus, 185. 
 Maclear, G. F., 125, 234 
 Mark, ancient testimonies, 39. 
 
 — authorship, 6. 
 
 — characteristics, 32. 
 
 — compass and contents, 12. 
 
 — date, 25. 
 
 — destination, 23. 
 
 — Gospel of, change qf senti- 
 ment regarding, 3. 
 
 — integrity, 29. 
 
 — language and style, 18. 
 
 — literature, 45. 
 
 — names of, 6. 
 
 — object and aim. 27. 
 
 — Peter's hernieneut, 9. 
 place in ancient Church,. 4. 
 plan, t \. 
 
 — references to in N. T., 6. 
 
 Mark, references to outside 
 N.T.,8. 
 
 — relation to Matthew and 
 Luke, 15. 
 
 — relation to Peter, 9. 
 
 — relations to Peterand Paul, 8. 
 
 — sources, 12. 
 
 Mary Magdalene. 357, 365. 
 
 — mother of James, 357. 
 Matthew, 142. 
 
 Medical prescriptions, 1 74. 
 Meyer, H. A. W., 108, 157, 213. 
 
 24°, 2 73, 338. 
 Mill-stone, 239. 
 Mite, 290. 
 
 Money-changers. 269. 
 Morrison, Dr. J., 135. 143. 
 Most High God, 168. 
 Mount Hermon, 223. 
 
 — of Olives, 263. 
 
 — Tabor, 222. 
 Mourning. Oriental. 177. 
 Mustard. 163. 
 Mystery, 159. 
 
 Name, use of term, 236. 
 
 Nazareth, 116. 
 ; — visit of Jesus to, 179. 
 I Needle's eye, 249. 
 I Nescience of Jesus, 306. 
 
 Nets, 127. 
 
 Nicodemus, 35, 360. 
 
 — Gospel of, j 76, 339. 
 
 Oil, anointing with, 183. 
 j Olives, mount of, 263. 
 1 Origen, 21, 26, 42. 
 
 j Palace, 343. 
 
 ! Papias, 9, 39, 40. 
 
 Parable, use of term, 154. 
 
 Paronsia, 304. 
 
 Passover, 308. 
 - site of room of, 323. 
 
 Penny, 191, 279. 290. 
 
 Pharisees. 278. 
 I Physicians. Jewish, 174. 
 
376 
 
 ST. MARK 
 
 Pilate. 343. 
 
 Pliny, 311. 
 
 Plumptre, E. H., 169. 
 
 Plutarch, 351. 
 
 Polycarp, 5, 297. 
 
 Porter, J. Leslie, 263. 
 
 Possession, demoniacal, 132. 
 
 Praetorium, 343. 348. 
 
 Prayer, posture in, 273. 
 
 Predestination, the Divine, 256. 
 
 Preparation, the, 358. 
 
 Procurator, 345. 
 
 Publican, 142, 143. 
 
 Purging of Temple, 268, 271. 
 
 Ransom, 257. 
 Repentance, 111. 
 Resurrection, doctrine of, 282, 
 
 284. 
 Risen Lord, appearances of the, 
 
 370- 
 Robinson, Ed., Biblical Re- 
 searches, 158, 263. 
 
 — Harmony, 340. 
 Rufus, 350. 
 
 Sabbath, 146. 
 Sacrifice, 258. 
 Sadducees, 281. 
 Salome, 185, 358. 
 Salome's request, 253. 
 Salt, 241. 
 
 Salted with fire, 240. 
 Satan, 121, 154. 
 Schaff, Philip, 263. 
 SchOttgen, 140. 
 Scourging, 348. 
 Scribes, 130, 217. 
 Second Advent, 304, 307. 
 Seneca, 339. 
 Shewbread, 146. 
 Sibylline Oracles, 240. 
 Sidon, 203. 
 
 Sign from heaven, 209. 
 Simon of Cyrene, 350. 
 
 — the leper, 311. 
 Sin, eternal, 155. 
 
 Sisters of Jesus, 181. 
 Smith, Prof. G. Adam, 112. 
 Soldier of the guard, 188. 
 Son of David, 260, 287, 288. 
 
 — of God, 107. 
 
 — of Man, 227. 
 
 — of Most High God, 168. 
 
 — of the Blessed, 337. 
 Sop, 319. 
 
 Soul, 219. 
 Spikenard, 311. 
 Spirit, 329. 
 
 — blasphemy against, 155. 
 
 — descent of on Jesus, 118. 
 
 — the Holy, 115, 296, 297. 
 Spitting, 339. 
 
 Spittle, use of, 206. 
 
 Stanley, Dean, 215, 263, 275, 
 
 326. 
 Swete, Dr. H. B., 131, 148, 181, 
 
 194, 224, 245, 258, 284, 307, 
 
 317, 327, 334, 349- 
 Swine, keeping of, 169. 
 Synagogue, 129, 295. 
 Syrophcenician, 203. 
 
 Tabor, 222. 
 
 Tacitus, 344. 
 
 Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 
 
 112, 301. 
 Temple, purging of, 268, 271. 
 Temptation of Jesus, 119, 120. 
 Tertullian, 41, 297. 
 Tetrarch, 183. 
 Thorns, 158. 
 Tower, 276. 
 
 Tradition of the elders, 198. 
 Transfiguration of Jesus, 222, 
 
 225. 
 Travail, 294. 
 Treachery of Judas, 315. 
 Treasury, 289. 
 Trench, Archbishop, 213, 2r4, 
 
 274. 
 Tribute, 279. 
 Tristram. Canon H.B., 114. 123, 
 
 185. 
 
INDEX 
 
 377 
 
 Twelve Apostles, the Teaching of 
 
 the, 1 12, 30 r. 
 Twelve, choice of the 151. 
 Tyre, 202. 
 
 Unleavened bread, 316. 
 Feast of, 309. 
 
 Van Lennep, H. J., 177. 
 Veil of temple, 356. 
 Via Dolorosa, 350. 
 Vinegar, 355. 
 Vineyard, 275. 
 
 Warren, Sir C, 118. 
 Washings, ceremonial, 198. 
 Washing of hands, 347. 
 Watches, 195. 
 Westcott, Bishop, 344. 
 Wilderness of Judaea, in, 120. 
 Wilson, Sir C, 351. 
 Wine-press, 276. 
 Women at Sepulchre. 358, 361. 
 World to come, 251. 
 
 Zealots, 346. 
 Zebedee, 253. 
 Zidon, 203. 
 
OXFORD: HORACE HART 
 PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
BS491.N53 41 
 
 St. Mark : introduction. 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00059 2396